“Only God Knows What The Boys Go Through”*

Senior Thesis Exhibition: Fall 2015 // Recipient of the Studio Art Exhibition Award

Oakland University
Rochester, MI
December 2015

Artist Statement:

The last of the World War II veterans are dwindling in number as the years continue to pass. In the near future, this generation will completely vanish, taking their stories with them. As this was America’s “greatest generation” there is often an aura of romanticism and glory that surrounds the era, when in reality, the horrors that these men faced were far from romantic or glorious. This project draws awareness to the veterans’ struggle coming from a time where the Hollywood propaganda of the 1940s distorted the public’s perception of war, and serves as my personal contribution to the preservation of my great uncle’s service as a tank sergeant in World War II. The textual excerpts found below the objects are taken from letters exchanged between my great uncle and my grandmother during his years in combat. 

*Great Uncle Jozef Lesniewski to my grandmother, Sophia, December 31, 1944.