In May 2004, the 2B Foundation (Budapest) with Alma On Dobbin (NY) organized an exhibition of works by Hungarian and international artists at the 2B Gallery as a tribute to the 600,000 Hungarian Jews who perished in World War II.

The 2B Foundation issued a call to artists to participate in the exhibition, "WALDSEE 1944" with these miniature works in any medium, that would reflect on these events of 60 years ago.

Featuring works by, among others: Paul Emmanuel , William Kentridge, Erika Hibbert, Diane Victor (South Africa); Gyorgy Kemeny, Janos Major, Janos Megyik, Balint Nagy, Laszlo Rajk, Gabor Rosko, Lenke Szilagyi , Kamilla Szij (Hungary); Ida Appelbrog, Judy Chicago, Tobi Arthur Kahn, Stephen Lack, Louise McCagg, Sylvia Plachy, Archie Rand, John Roach, Greg Stanger, Donald Woodman (USA); Annette Munk, Anton Wurth (Germany).

Beginning in 2005, the Waldsee 1944 exhibition began its global tour, having originated in Budapest at the 2B Gallery in May 2004. In July 2005, the exhibition traveled to New York, where more artists were invited to submit works for inclusion into the show. Originally scheduled to close in mid-August, the show was extended until the end of 2005, due to its overwhelming success. In support of the exhibition and catalogue, Alma On Dobbin received a $5000 grant from the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.

Waldsee 1944 then traveled to Berlin for an exhibition at the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin, from May 7-27, 2005. From January 2, - March 30, 2007, the exhibit traveled to the Hibel Museum in Jupiter Florida.

Recently, the exhibition traveled to Ulm, Germany, at the Donauschwäbisches Zentralmuseum Ulm, where works were exhibited until August 6, 2006. Works by eighteen German artists were added to the original group: Hans Albrecht, Ulrich Bernhardt, Karlheinz Bux, Konrad Hummel, Ulrika Jäger, Reinhard Kiessinger, Ulrich Klieber, Ulrike Michaelis, Nikolaus Mohr, Cristina Ohlmer, Werner Pokorny, Peter Riek, Hannes Steinert, Gabriele Straub, Sam Szembek, Rolf Urban, Sibylle Wagner, Andrea Zaumseil. Curated by Christian Glass.

Confirmed locations for upcoming Waldsee 1944 exhibitions:

Sept 2006 – Dec 2006
Florida Holocaust Museum - St. Petersburg

Jan 3, 2007 - March 30, 2007
FAU-Jupiter (Florida)
Hibel Museum

Autumn, 2007
Ben Uri Gallery, London, UK

April 10, 2008 - June 20,2008
Alper JCC – Miami

BACKGROUND

In the Jewish Museum and Archive in Budapest, postcards have been preserved that were written by the deported to their relatives.

"The deceptive operation continued even in Auschwitz. "They gave us a postcard and a pencil," Márton Földi testified. "And they ordered us to write to our families. I wrote to my sister in Budapest. The text was dictated by an SS or a kapo. It went like this: 'I'm well and I'm working.' They ordered us to write that we were in Waldsee. This is a resort in Austria. The postcards had no stamps.

"The postcards were taken to the Gestapo, and were forwarded from there," Freudinger said in his testimony. "I examined one of the postcards and I noticed that its sender wrote Auschwitz in front of the date, but it was erased and Waldsee was written instead of it. I went to Krumey and showed him the card. 'Look, Freudinger, you're a smart man,' he said. 'You don't have to notice everything.' They obviously wanted the Jewish families to receive handwritten, reassuring messages. Afterwards, there were no more 'Waldsee postcards,' either. There was no one left to write. (Excerpt from Verdict in Jerusalem: the Eichmann Trial by Gideon Hausner)

These postcards are a shocking byproduct of the deportation. Their form is a standard postcard format, with lines for the address on one side and an empty space for the text on the other. Yet their content and circumstances are anything but standard. Stamped on the postcard, the rules for responding correspondence can be found: "Answer only on a postcard, (maximum 30 words), in German, via the Hungarian Jewish Association, 12 Sip Street, Budapest, VII."

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