Newly Donated Wolloch Family Haggadah Exhibit Inspires Congregation at the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton

For Quiogue resident Michael Wolloch, educating others about the Holocaust is far more than a history lesson — it’s a calling. “If you know your 10  commandments, you know the fifth commandment is honor thy mother and father,” he said. “This is for my parents.”

Wolloch’s dedication was in abundant evidence during a Q&A on July 27 at the Hampton Synagogue’s Manes Art Center in Westhampton Beach, where he donated a copy of the internationally renowned Wolloch Family Haggadah In Memory of the Holocaust, now in its permanent collection.

Moderating the discussion with Wolloch was Palm Beach art and jewelry collector and Dan’s Papers columnist Donna Schneier, mother of The Hampton Synagogue’s founding Rabbi Marc Schneier.

The word Haggadah means “telling” in Hebrew and is a written guide to the Passover seder commemorating the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt. While the origins of the Wolloch Family Haggadah are much more recent, the backstory behind its impetus is no less fascinating.

Three of Wolloch’s four grandparents perished in Nazi concentration camps in war-torn Poland during the Holocaust. His parents, Zygfryd and Helene, narrowly escaped death before reuniting in New York and marrying in 1947. It was here that Zygfryd quickly made a name for himself in real estate, eventually moving to Westchester, where Wolloch, a financial advisor, still lives with his wife and family in Scarsdale when he isn’t in Quiogue.

The elder Wollochs developed an interest in art, amassing an impressive collection that included works by Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti and Fernando Botero, among others, some of which now reside in the Tel Aviv Museum in Israel and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, where Zygfryd was a longtime trustee. But it was Zygfryd’s and Helene’s desire to immortalize their family’s legacy as holocaust victims and their own survival that would become their biggest passion.

In 1981, the Wolloch Family Haggadah was born. With noted New York rabbi and calligrapher Yonah Weinrib inscribing it, doing the illustrations at Zygfryd’s request was the Wolloch’s cousin David Wander, a Manhattan-based artist trained at the School of Visual Arts, Pratt Institute and Rhode Island School of Design. Wander, who teaches art at SAR Academy in Riverdale and was on hand for the discussion at The Hampton Synagogue, said he was reluctant at first.

“It was Zygfryd Wolloch’s idea to make a Haggadah commemorating the holocaust. He was looking at a seder table one Passover and said, ‘Going from Egypt to Israel to me was like what happened in Europe and going from there to Israel,’” Wander recalled. He said, ‘Can’t you do something?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know.’ I was very young and hesitant to do anything about the holocaust at the time, but he kept asking until I finally said yes.”

After three years in the making, the final product was a limited-edition portfolio comprising more than 50 lithographic and hand drawn images combining the traditional story of Passover with some of the most seminal events of the holocaust. Two of the most notable pieces include a juxtaposition of the Star of David set against the yellow stars that the Nazis required Jews to wear and an illustration of The Red Sea with drowning Egyptians.

The Wolloch Family Haggadah debuted in 1984 at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. After opening, it was published in a limited edition for the benefit of the International Society for Yad Vashem. Two hundred and 90 portfolios were printed, nine were given to the artists, 31 were distributed among the Wolloch family and others were gifted to various universities, government institutions and private collections worldwide. Among the recipients are Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Museum in Washington, The Czech Torah Scrolls Museum in London, the White House Library, the Air Force Academy and Harvard, Yale and Duke universities. There is also a printed version available for purchase on Amazon.

Summing up the significance of his family’s Haggadah and its legacy, Wolloch said, “My parents suffered terribly. They were children when the war broke out, but they came to America, made a life and afforded me and my brothers and enormous amount of privilege. With that privilege comes a  responsibility … to my people, my parents and those who don’t have a voice … to present this work of art to show the world you can’t forget. This is a visual piece. It’s not a spiritual piece in the respect that when we go to pray, what are we praying for. This is a print … an imprint … for the past, present and future.”

For more information about the Wolloch Family Haggadah and other exhibits, visit  thehamptonsynagogue.org or call 631-288-0534, ext. 10