A six-sided steel cube standing on one thin leg is a new feature of Teaneck High School’s Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center, soon to be rededicated after a complete redesign. Entitled “The Mathematics of Hate,” the cube was created by Teaneck sculptor Dr. Milton Ohring and generously lent to the updated Center. The cube features a cutout of the number “6 million” on one side and cutouts of complex mathematical computations of this number on four more sides. The sixth side features the cutout of the word “HATE.” This powerful sculpture is a brilliant representation of the vastness of the number of victims of the Holocaust whose lives were snuffed out by baseless hate.
The sculpture especially appreciated by Goldie Minkowitz, a math teacher in the high school who has directed the Holocaust Center since its inception in the 1980s. Her assistant in this project is Teaneck resident Aliza Rabinowitz, also a mathematics instructor.
In 2013, Teaneck High School, continuing its emphasis on Holocaust education, expanded its media center to include close to 800 volumes related to the Holocaust, housed in a large, sunlit space. The collection includes a 250-volume collection by Jeanette Friedman and Philip Sieradski in memory of their parents and an additional 500-book collection donated by the family of Dr. Richard Ores, a Teaneck physician who had been liberated from Dachau in 1945.
Adding greatly to the meaning and feeling of the library Holocaust installation is another work by Ohring. The sculpture, placed upon a marble base, consists of six oblong stones made of granite and river stones, onto which are carved human faces displaying dark emotions. The work is entitled “Kvorim Vaksn Do” or “Graves Grow Here.” The inspiration for the sculpture came from a sad song, “Shtiler, Shtiler,” composed in the Vilna Ghetto by A. Wolkoviski and S. Kaczerginski, remembering those whose lives were taken in the killing fields of Poland.
Ohring is a model of an individual whose professional and private life combine his passions and talents. Married since 1960 to his devoted wife, Ahrona; father of Avi, Noam and Faigl; and grandfather of eight, his scientific erudition and artistic talents meshed into a post-retirement life of creativity beginning in 2001. In more than 30 works that fill the shelves of his Teaneck home, Ohring has created scenes from the Bible and the world in general.
A predominant theme in his work is the Holocaust. Born in Poland in 1926, Ohring was fortunate
that his family was able to relocate to the United States soon after Kristallnacht. But for him, the backdrop of the Holocaust is always present. Settling in the Bronx, Ohring attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, pursuing his early passion for painting. He continued his education at Columbia University, from which he earned both master’s and doctoral degrees in science, specifically focusing upon metallurgical engineering. Subsequently, he pursued an academic career as a professor of metallurgy and materials science at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, for 35 years. In addition, he consulted with Bell Labs and IBM, and advised many doctoral students.
Throughout his professional life, he amassed an intensive knowledge of and feel for metals and other natural materials, which he drew upon in his artistic pursuits. In his own words, Ohring explained why he uses certain mediums to convey his messages. “In my biblical works as well as in my Holocaust tributes I am concerned with issues of faith, joy, grief, loss and remembrance,” he said. “I develop these themes through abstraction and symbolism. Since these themes are serious and eternal, I feel that the materials I use to convey these messages must also have the quality of permanence. Sculptural materials that are synthetic or degrade over time are simply inadequate for these works. The actual materials which I employ include granite, assorted river stones, marble, limestone, steel and bronze.These materials render my works with power, with balanced shapes and with harmonious linear and spatial designs.”
In 2005, Ohring exhibited over 25 of his works on biblical and secular themes at the MetroWest JCC Campus in Whippany. They were enthusiastically received and praised. Biblical works include sculptures of Eve, Moses, Miriam, Lot’s Wife, King David, Jonah in the Whale, Jewish Midwives in Egypt and Noah in the Teiva. Holocaust sculptures include “Burnt Offerings,” representing sacrifices consisting of numbers flying up from within an altar of barbed wire, and “Vortex,” an ever-shrinking metal spiral representing the eventual total confinement of the victims of the Holocaust topped with the iconic image of the little Shoah victim. (See pictures).
Math teachers Minkowitz and Rabinowitz have expressed their gratitude to Ohring for his generosity in sharing his sculptures with Teaneck High School, whose mission in establishing a Holocaust and Genocide Center is “to afford us an opportunity to discuss, analyze and reflect upon the countless moral and ethical questions raised during that unique historical event and during other events in which human rights have been abused.
“As we continue to strive for human dignity, equality and justice, we realize that true understanding, and the elimination of prejudice and discrimination, can come about only through sound education within an informed society.”
By Pearl Markovitz
