The painting immortalises the annihilation of the Vilna Jewish community.

The vibrant burning colours of the painting commemorate the annihilation of Vilna Jewish community. In the left panel of the triptych, the Hebrew letters ו (v) and ג (g) stand for “Vilna Ghetto”, whereas in the right panel on the right there is an imprint (in Yiddish spelling) “Vilna” (ווילנע) which stands for the city that was deprived of its Jewish residents, which points to the city that lost its Jewish population. The central painting raises the most difficult question: the role of God in the fate of the mankind, and especially of the Chosen People with whom He had established a special covenant. His name appears in in fiery Hebrew letters (אל) atop a stony earth-shaped globe, as His creation crumbles into the chaos from which it came. The reverse of the Hebrew (אל) is (לא) –“Thou shalt not” – the words from the Ten Commandments, which however done little to abort the atrocities of history or protect their victims.  

 (Prepared according to the text of Lawrence L. Langer catalogue “Samuel Bak. Stations in Life”, 2011)