Who Am I?
By Greta Elbogen
Gurjinder Singh
Oil Paint on Canvas
14.5” x 18.5"
About Gurjinder Singh
I was Born in the Bronx but my ancestors come from Punjab, India.
I'm an elementary school counselor. I like to paint during my spare time.
I met Greta at a reading at Hunter College while I was studying for my bachelor's degree. She was reading her book Remember Me. I had borrowed it from a friend of mine and instantly felt connected to her words. It made me connect to Greta, connect to her suffering to the point I had to reach out to her. I met Greta after her reading.
Later, Greta contacted me about her project and I was immediately on board. I knew I had to be a part of it. Greta and I reconnected and developed a spiritual connection towards one another.
The poem I selected was “Who Am I.”
I selected this poem for two reasons.
Number one, I was on a Holocaust research team in graduate school and the team studied how survivors coped pre- and post- Holocaust. Greta starts her poem with “Don’t call me a Holocaust survivor, call me...” She wants to be known for more than the suffering of her people and her losses.
Reason number two: Throughout her poem, Greta speaks about what she wants her audience to call her. She does not want to be identified by her trauma. As someone that has gone through trauma, I identify with this poem. In my piece, I tried to represent a free-spirited Greta, someone not in pain or suffering but dancing freely away from the agonies that haunted her life.