Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1924 - 1926

This is a letter to Philip Zilcken by Lya Berger, its paper aged and the ink faded with time. Berger was a Dutch artist who tragically died in the Sobibor extermination camp in 1941. This letter offers a personal connection to her life, predating the horrors of the Holocaust. The stationary is addressed from Nice, France. The handwriting, elegant yet hurried, speaks to the intimacy and urgency of correspondence in a pre-digital age. As a woman artist in the early 20th century, Berger faced systemic barriers in a male-dominated art world, and as a Jewish woman, she ultimately faced the unimaginable atrocities of the Nazi regime. Letters like these humanize the victims of the Holocaust, reminding us that behind the statistics were individuals with lives, relationships, and stories. The emotional weight of this simple piece of mail is a poignant reminder of a life interrupted by hatred and violence, but also of the enduring power of human connection.