תומס קרונר

Thomas was born in December 1909, in Munich, Germany, to Kurt and Ella, and had one sister, Dorothea (Dodo).

His father was a well-known sculpturer and University professor, and the family was well rooted in the German culture, but did keep its connections with their Jewish roots as well.

At the age of three, Thomas’ family moved to Berlin. Upon completion of high school, Thomas studied at the Art Academy and the Technion in Dresden and Berlin, and then architecture in Stuttgart. He was also attracted to the theatre, and for three years he worked with a well-known artist on theatre sets. However, when this artist moved on to the German National Theatre, Thomas could not join him – the Nazis were already in power, and as a Jew he was not allowed to work there, so he decided to leave for Palestine-Israel.

He was trained in agriculture at several Jewish training farms in Germany, and n 1938, he went to Palestine, and Joined the Kibbutz Tel Yoseph, where he worked mainly in agriculture.

In World War II his mother, Ella, was murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz, and he himself served in the British army. Yet, during all these war years he also continued his artistic work.

After the war he moved to Kibbutz Beit Hashita, but his conformance with the Kibbutz members was not easy, as no fit work had been found for him, and he dedicated himself more and more to his art, which didn’t do much to help his social integration.

Wondering from place to place did seem to help him, and for a period of time he settled in Jerusalem, where he gained more acknowledgment as an artist, and where he would trade a drawing for a meal, or even for empathy.