On 4 December 2024, an international online workshop for teachers was held with the participation of Samuel Bak, a Litvak painter living in the USA.
The international seminar “Samuel Bak: Survival, Philosophy of Life and Creative Work” took place on Zoom. The seminar guest was the painter Samuel Bak, who lives in the United States of America. The seminar included a lively conversation with Samuel Bak, a Litvak, about his rescue during the Holocaust. He said: “I lived in Vilnius until I was eleven years old. I had a happy childhood, but it ended during the Holocaust because I lost my father, grandparents and other close people”. Samuel Bak shared his memories of life in the ghetto, the people who saved Samuel and his mother, and his mother’s decision to flee Soviet-occupied Lithuania through Poland. The seminar also touched on the theme of Samuel Bak’s work: what motivates him to paint, how the subject of a painting is born, and what symbols dominate his art.
Samuel Bak emphasised the importance of education and the fact that working with young people is extremely meaningful. The international seminar was attended by 49 teachers and educators from all over Lithuania.
The International Seminar – Meeting with Samuel Bak was organised by the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes Committed by the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania in cooperation with the Vilnius Gaon Museum of Jewish History – Samuel Bak’s Museum.
