Rachel Mourning Her Children

This watercolored drawing is another example of Meidner’s use of a religious motif to address the theme of the Holocaust. However, the biblical text he refers to is not found in the story of Jacob and Rachel but in a verse from the prophet Jeremiah. Here Rachel, one of the matriarchs of the tribes of Israel, laments the suffering of her people: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15)