Two Holocaust survivors kept their Jewish roots secret. Now their painter daughter draws on them

Barbara Hines, a painter living in Jerusalem, discovered her Jewish heritage after her parents hid it following the Holocaust. Her father escaped a Nazi prison, and the family kept their roots secret. After exploring Hinduism, Sufism, and Buddhism, Hines embraced Judaism when her son's interest revealed the family secret. A new exhibition at the Moshe Castel Museum in Ma'ale Adumim showcases her journey.

Barbara Hines, a painter now living in Jerusalem, discovered her Jewish heritage after her parents hid it following the Holocaust. Her father, Rolf Otto Julius Fritzsche, escaped from a Nazi prison, and the family kept their Jewish roots secret, raising Hines and her sister in a Christian environment in Australia. Hines spent decades exploring Hinduism, Sufism, and Buddhism before her son Trevor's interest in Judaism led to the revelation that her mother was Jewish, with 86 relatives killed in the Holocaust. Hines embraced Judaism and now expresses her journey through art. A new exhibition at the Moshe Castel Museum of Jewish Israeli Art in Ma'ale Adumim, running through the end of the year, captures her religious evolution and connection to Israel and biblical stories. The article frames this as a personal and artistic rediscovery of heritage, relying on Hines's own account without external corroboration.