ABOUT THE ARTIST
Genrikh (in English, Henry) Bukhsbaum was born in Lvov, Poland in 1922 to Yakov and Henya Bukhsbaum. Yakov was the owner of a successful construction business. His mother like most women in those days was a home maker. Genrikh was one of four children, Frida, Mindle and Baruch.
His grandparents and cousins however, lived in and around small Shtetls on the outskirts of Lvov and Komarno. Genrikh spent most of his summers with relatives who lived the Shtetl life. He was able to observe and participate in the daily lives of the Jews who called these Shtetles home. These experiences made a lasting impression on him. Genrikh equated Shtetl life as a child would: happy and profoundly simple. He looked forward to every summer. He saw his time with his relatives as an escape from city life, and an escape from the anti-semitism that was becoming more and more popular in the city.
In 1939, Genrikh graduated from the local school, and was accepted into the Lvov Art and Sculpture Institute. Not long after that, life for Genrikh's family and the Jewish people changed forever. The 1940, Lvov became one of the many Polish cities to be included in Stalin's annexation of Polish territory. This caused a great hardship for his father's business. The following year Germany invaded Poland. In June of 1941, Genrikh and a few of his classmates volunteered to help dig trenches to help stop the German advance. While working a few miles away from the city, they were suddenly told that the Germans had overtaken Lvov.
Genrikh ran home to find his family. By then, Lvov had turned into a war zone. He had no choice but to run away from the advancing Germans, who were going from building to building, burning, looting, and gathering up Jews to be sent to the ghetto. Genrikh ran east towards Russia. In order to eat, he found a way to remove pieces of tin roof from bombed out buildings and make water buckets, and trade these items for food. Hitching his way on trains, Genrikh made it to the Caucuses, where he found a job training and breaking in Arabian horses.
In 1942, Genrikh reached the age of 18 and was drafted in the Russian army. But Stalin had expressed reservations about allowing foreigners to fight along side Russian soldiers, he was afraid that they would switch sides during a battle. It was ultimately this fear that saved Genrikh from the front line. He was sent to work on a base. Genrikh's commanders immediately recognized a talent in the boy and put him to work. He began to draw tactical maps and charts, and later drew posters for combat training. At the end of 1944,
Genrikh and his wife Maya donating the portrait of the The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem M. Schneerson to the local congregation.
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Genrikh was sent to be trained as a T34 tank driver. After completing his training, his unit was sent to the German front. But by the time they arrived, the war had ended. Genrikh lived through the war without firing a shot. For his war service however, the army recognized his impeccable reputation, devoted service and hard labor with numerous medals and honors.
Genrikh's WWII medals
Genrikh made it his mission to find his family. In Lvov, he questioned anyone he could find who might have seen or heard about his family. Genrikh learned that his father was hanged for non-cooperation with German authorities, the business and all that his family had owned was seized by the Germans. He learned that his mother and 5 year old sister had been removed from their apartment, and sent to the death at the Beltzig concentration camp. His brother Baruch was seen marching with other Jews out of Lvov, and never heard from again.
Escaping the nightmare of this tragedy, Genrikh went back to Russia where he settled in Kiev (now the capital of Ukraine). In Kiev, Genrikh went back to school, and finished with a degree in architecture. He went on to become one of the cities leading industrial architects. Genrikh also started a family and lived in the relative calm of Soviet Russia, never forgetting his culture, and never forgetting the hardships that he faced.
By the late nineteen seventies, Genrikh and his family decided to leave the Soviet Union for good, and immigrate to the United States. Shortly after arriving, Genrikh was contact by the U.S. Government. Genrikh was paid to write a book describing the factories and operations in Russia, which was completed in the early eighties. By then, Genrikh got a job working with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, which he held until his retirement in 1998. In the months since then, Genrikh decided to put to paper the images and memories of his childhood among his relatives. For years the pictures flowed from Genrikh's hands, sometimes even portraying scenes from ancient Jewish history, until poor health and an unsteady hand forced him to stop drawings. He quietly past away in his home in 2008.
In 2003, Genrikh was honored by the Brooklyn Borough President, and the Mayor's Office in an exhibition on immigrant artists. This gallery was displayed at City Hall for all to enjoy.
It is Genrikh's expressed wish that he may share his drawings with as many people as possible. That somehow through his art, the images of a simpler time in Jewish history will not be forgotten, and that perhaps, these images may stir these same positive emotions in the people who view them. That is why this website has been created and these sketches have been made available for purchase.
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