A Day to Remember
On June 4th, 2023, I showcased my grandfather’s artwork for the very first time.
Sharing his story & oil paintings has been a project on my heart for over a decade & finally, the time arrived to take the next step.
After graduating from the Warsaw Fine Arts Academy, on July 3, 1940, my Grandfather, Leon Turalski, was caught by the Nazis in a street roundup & sent to Auschwitz, the Nazi Concentration Camp.
His talent as a painter saved his life. He painted portraits of Nazi officers & their families, drew beloved animals & characters from fairy tales on the walls for the imprisoned children, secured appointments for other prisoners in the painters‘ work detail (ultimately saving their lives) & secretly, made drawings that documented the horrors of the camp. He spent just under 5 years in Auschwitz until he was liberated in 1945.
He went on to marry his love, Irena & pursued his passion of painting in nature for the rest of his life, leaving hundreds of paintings to my brother & me.
Now 32 years after he passed, here we were on the Hoboken Waterfront presenting his artwork.
I can’t tell you how “in flow” this day felt. It’s as if every person we encountered was meant to be.
Among them was an American woman who studied in Poland & said she had a friend who is a cinematographer (a potential to pursue a documentary), a business man who majored in German studies who was enamored by Leon’s painting with the Irises, a professor at Rutgers who taught Holocaust Studies & folks who both encouraged & invited us to display his work in art galleries.
There were two times in particular where I teared up during what felt like extraordinarily meaningful moments.
The first moment was with a couple who purchased a painting my Grandfather did of the Empire State Building in ‘89 when he visited New York (the year I was born). The young woman said she was waiting for nearly a year to buy a painting that spoke to her & when she saw Leon’s paintings, something drew her in.
Joy exuded from her body. With the Empire State Building literally behind us as I sold them the painting, it truly felt like a full circle moment.
The second moment was with a Hoboken resident named Mary whose passion for art was palpable.
She couldn’t believe she was seeing Leon Turalski’s painting up close. “I know his art,” she told us.
She went on to express just how important & impressive his art form was, an artist who always stayed true to his own style.
She was very touched to even meet the family of an artist like Leon. She looked right into my eyes and said, “You are stewarding his work & I can tell his legacy is in the right hands.”
Her words touched me deeply. We hugged & by the time we said goodbye, Mary, my mom & I all had tears in our eyes.
This day is etched into my being as the mark of a generational legacy unfolding, honoring my Grandfather & the power of one individual’s choice to transform their pain into something beautiful.
Written by Juliet Magdalene
Leon Turalski’s Granddaughter
