During the Festive Ceremony on the Occasion of Czech National Day on 28th of October 2022, the President of the Czech Republic awarded the Medal of Merit in the field of arts to Israeli painter, graphic artist, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Yehuda Bacon. The award received the Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Czech Republic, HE Anna Azari.
Yehuda Bacon was born in Moravská Ostrava in 1929. As 13-year-old, he was assigned to transport to Theresienstadt, where his passion for drawing and painting was born under the guidance of famous teachers such as Otto Ungar, Bedřich Fritta, Leo Haas and Karel Fleischmann. He went through Auschwitz and survived the death march. After the liberation, he arrived in a convalescent home in the castle of Štiřín, where he attended painting lessons. After arriving in Israel, he studied fine arts and became a prominent artist, exhibiting in many cities around the world.
You can learn more about the life of Yehuda Bacon in the NPMK publication Jsem Jehuda Bacon. Holocaust a poválečná doba očima izraelského malíře českého původu, which is available for download in e-form here: https://www.npmk.cz/sites/default/files/soubory/2017/jehuda_bacon_web.pdf
In 2011 an exhibition of Yehuda Bacon's works was held at the Czech Cultural Centre in Prague and in 2017 an exhibition of his works was held at the National Pedagogical Museum and Library of J. A. Comenius in Prague http://pitter.eu/en/node/140
Yehuda Bacon works very closely with the National Pedagogical Museum and Library of J. A. Comenius in Prague and Foundation of P. Pitter and O. Fierz, mainly on Holocaust education projects for the younger generation.
Many congratulations on this important award!