Roman Halter • Life and Art through Stained Glass 1 | Page 51

fig. 10

Untitled watercolour triptych,
bottom titled Floods in Dorset
Watercolour and ink on paper

are too many incidences to even attempt a list. One
of the most telling moments comes in the Book of
Isaiah. “The people that walked in darkness have
seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the
shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”
Whether Roman was aware of this verse, or saw it
as specifically applicable to those Jews who endured
the Holocaust, does not matter. The fact is that in
Judaeo-Christian culture, the most powerful and
ubiquitous symbol of eternal life is light. Even as the
man on the electrified fence breathes his last, there
is light.
Roman kept his promise to his grandfather
and spent the last years of his life taking part in
discussions, working with the curators of the
Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum,
visiting schools to tell his story and much more
besides. He did this not to elicit pity or sympathy,
but in order to be able to tell the truth and to make
as sure as he could that his voice was heard. He
became a hard-working anti-racist campaigner not

just with specific reference to the Holocaust. In 2007
he took part in events to commemorate the abolition
of the slave trade. His commitment to combat
racism in all its forms was unquenchable.
Those who knew him will remember his
generosity of spirit and his determination to
enjoy his life, which was utterly infectious and
irresistible. But even as he laughed and loved, his
buried memories forced themselves to the surface
of his consciousness and caused him great pain.
In the last decade or so of his life he attempted
to exorcise this pain – whether he was successful
or not is doubtful – through making a series of
small watercolour landscapes that represented the
landscape around Bridport, Dorset, the home of his
artist daughter Aviva (fig 10). The gently swelling
Dorset countryside is one of the most beautiful and
peaceful parts of Roman’s adopted home country
but in his dreams, in which he imagined himself on
long rural walks, vivid memories of his experiences
began to resurface and he felt driven to represent
them in his art.
He made these little landscapes for several years.
There are views from Pilsden Point, the sea shore at
Lyme Regis, Bridport, the view towards Dorchester
and Chesil Beach, the area around Bettiscombe
and more. Surprisingly, shockingly almost, he
began to cut and pa