Exhibit tells stories of tragedy, triumph

Dr. Robert Fisch was not always so forward in discussing his experience during the Holocaust.

"The Holocaust was never an 'issue.' It was a personal matter," he said. "If someone was close to me, I would talk about it."

Over the years, however, Fisch, 84, has become more public. He has spoken in the United States and abroad in support of his literature, which began with his first book, "Light From the Yellow Star," in 1994. His latest project, "The Value of One Life," is an exhibition at the Minnesota Historical Society.

The show, which Fisch and the society began developing last year, presents intimate biographies of eight Minnesotans who have transcended great moments of struggle. While the project initially was intended to be framed around Fisch's story, he opted for a more diverse collection of voices.

"The first thought we had was, 'What do you do after you've gone through hell?'" he said. "We all go through hardships, so how do you live with it?"

Fisch's story alone is remarkable. He and his father were taken to work camps in March 1944 after German forces invaded his native Budapest, Hungary. This was barely after his high school graduation. He returned home after the war, attended medical school and later participated in the Hungarian uprising against Communist forces in 1956. He has been in the United States since 1957.

"I will never forget that feeling," he said of stepping off the airplane in the Twin Cities. "The first thing I felt was that I was scared to death. The second thing was that it was very exciting."

Now retired from his pediatric work at the University of Minnesota, Fisch occupies much of his time in his Minneapolis high-rise, where he focuses on his personal passion -- painting. It is an interest made evident by the personal pieces hung on his condominium walls or his remarkably youthful hands, which he uses so deliberately in conversation. It also reiterates his eye for aesthetic decisions, which was a key point in the exhibit's evolution. The presentation is decidedly sparse. Each subject's story occupies two wall-length banners and is accompanied by a single black-and-white portrait, by St. Paul photographer Petronella Ytsma.

"That was very much Dr. Fisch's idea," senior exhibit developer Kate Roberts said. "He wanted it to be a very simple presentation. He wanted nothing to detract from the images of the people and their words."

Another subject of the exhibition is inspirational speaker Ruth Bachman of Minneapolis, who lost her left hand, which was her dominant one, in 2003 to soft-tissue sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

"As soon as they tell you that you have cancer, that's going to change your life," Fisch said. "You can say, 'I have six months,' or you can make the most of it. Not for you, but for the people around you."

Fisch maintains that the observation of an individual's struggle is the best way for someone to understand the true meaning of hardship and perseverance.

"The 6 million means nothing," Fisch said in reference to the lives lost during the Holocaust. "You have to understand that one of them was like you or your loved one."

The disarming intimacy achieved in these biographies is the crux of the exhibition. Tragedy naturally carries a greater impact when it becomes personal. Considering the engrossing presentation of these triumphs, Fisch and the society must know this well.

Andrew Penkalski is a University of Minnesota journalism student on assignment for the Star Tribune.