The only bright spot …

The board – with an ashen colour palette, warmed by the use of cream yellow and energetic red – depicts Abraham Rotfarb’s stay at the school of the Chinuch Yelodim (Upbringing Children) Society for Providing Care for Orphans and Children. This private institution made a very good first impression on the boy. As we read in the fragments of Rotfarb's text which were the basis for this theme of the comic adaptation: “Break. First, the door […] by which I was standing opened and Mr. Ajzenkowicz came through it […] surrounded […] by a chaotic swarm of children. He turned his smiling face to them one after the other and answered their questions cheerfully […]. This fact, the proof of a familiar, friendly rapport between the students and the teacher and their mutual relationship, struck me at the very heart.” For financial reasons, it was only a five-grade school. The fifth grade, as the eldest, had the headmaster of the school as their tutor, whose […] good pedagogical approach [a]roused in us a positive tendency to learn.” The body of students at the school was quite small and everybody bonded with each other: “During breaks, when we were eating, we sat on top of the desks, as if we were a close group of friends, and we talked freely about different things that were of interest to us. No one was left out, unless there was one person not fully prepared for the class, trying to ‘cram’ knowledge into his head.” The school assemblies were a great experience for the students: “Everything was so beautiful and so full of passion! At the end of each performance, we were treated to cookies, wine, candies, and chocolate. Everyone was happy for us and praised us,” recalled Abraham Rotfarb in his autobiography.