On this episode of the Deerfield Public Library Podcast, we had the great pleasure of talking to Elizabeth Rynecki, author of Chasing Portraits: A Great-Granddaughter’s Quest for Her Lost Art Legacy. We discussed her amazing, decades-long project to find the missing paintings of her great-grandfather, Moshe Rynecki, who painted scenes of Polish-Jewish life in the interwar years. At the start of World War II, Moshe Rynecki hid his life’s work with family friends, and was later murdered at the Majdanek concentration camp. While some paintings were recovered after the war, many remained (and still remain) lost.
Elizabeth’s memoir and forthcoming documentary, also titled Chasing Portraits, trace her story of discovery and meditate on the legacy of World War II and survivorship. Learn more and see Moshe Rynecki’s paintings at chasingportraits.org while you listen to our conversation.
You can check out Chasing Portraits from the library or find other books and movies mentioned in our conversation here.
We hope you enjoy our eleventh episode with Elizabeth Rynecki! Each month we’ll be releasing an episode featuring a conversation with a dynamic Deerfield leader or library program presenter. Learn more about the podcast on our podcast page.
You can listen to all of our episodes in the player below or on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. We welcome your comments and feedback–please send to: podcast@deerfieldlibrary.org.
