I don’t need to rush, for there is no point in that, but I must carry on working in complete calm and serenity, as regularly and with as much concentration as possible, as much to the point as possible. The world concerns me only in so far as I owe it certain debt and duty, so to speak, because I have walked this earth for 30 years, and out of gratitude would like to leave some memento in the form of drawings and paintings - not made to please this school or that, but to express a genuine human feeling.

Dünyanın beni ilgilendiren tek bir yanı var: Otuz yıl üstünde yaşadığım bu toprağa karşı duyduğum belirli bir borç ve yüklendiğime inandığım bir görev; duyduğum bu şükran borcuna karşılık desen ya da resim olarak birkaç andaç bırakmak istiyorum geride -birtakım sanat akımlarının hoşuna girmek için değil, gerçek, içten, insancıl duyguları dile getirmek için. İşte, yaşamdaki amacım bu.

Even before the concentration camps, I felt it was my duty to my ancestors to preserve a world which might cease to exist.

I believe that I am not simply on earth to exist. I want to leave a mark – in the lives of children, in my community, and also in the larger world

There’s the love and the joy and you’re excited, but you also feel the responsibility to this world. You want to do good by it because it’s something that you’ve loved for so long