Editing Marc Chagall (section)

====Coming to grips with World War II====

After Chagall returned to New York in 1943 current events began to interest him more, and this was represented by his art, where he painted subjects including the [[Crucifixion]] and scenes of war. He learned that the Germans had destroyed the town where he was raised, Vitebsk, and became greatly distressed.<ref name=Teshuva/>{{rp|159}} He also learned about the [[Nazi concentration camps]].<ref name=Teshuva/> During a speech in February 1944, he described some of his feelings:

{{quote|Meanwhile, the enemy jokes, saying that we are a "stupid nation". He thought that when he started slaughtering the Jews, we would all in our grief suddenly raise the greatest prophetic scream, and would be joined by the Christian humanists. But, after two thousand years of "Christianity" in the world—say whatever you like—but, with few exceptions, their hearts are silent... I see the artists in Christian nations sit still—who has heard them speak up? They are not worried about themselves, and our Jewish life doesn't concern them.<ref name=Harshav/>{{rp|89}}}}

In the same speech he credited Soviet Russia with doing the most to save the Jews:

{{quote|The Jews will always be grateful to it. What other great country has saved a million and a half Jews from Hitler's hands, and shared its last piece of bread? What country abolished antisemitism? What other country devoted at least a piece of land as an autonomous region for Jews who want to live there? All this, and more, weighs heavily on the scales of history.<ref name=Harshav/>{{rp|89}}}}

On 2 September 1944, Bella died suddenly due to a streptococcus infection, which could not be treated at the Mercy General Hospital as they had no penicillin due to  wartime restrictions. As a result, he stopped all work for many months, and when he did resume painting his first pictures were concerned with preserving Bella's memory.<ref name=Cogniat/> Wullschlager writes of the effect on Chagall: "As news poured in through 1945 of the ongoing [[the Holocaust|Holocaust]] at [[Nazi concentration camps]], Bella took her place in Chagall's mind with the millions of Jewish victims." He even considered the possibility that their "exile from Europe had sapped her will to live".<ref name=Wullschlager/>{{rp|419}}

[[File:WithBella.jpg|thumb|With [[Virginia Haggard|Virginia Haggard McNeil]] in 1948]]

After a year of living with his daughter Ida and her husband Michel Gordey, he entered into a romance with [[Virginia Haggard]], daughter of diplomat [[Godfrey Haggard]] and great-niece of the author [[H. Rider Haggard]]; their relationship endured seven years. They had a child together, David McNeil, born 22 June 1946.<ref name=Teshuva/> Haggard recalled her "seven years of plenty" with Chagall in her book, ''My Life with Chagall'' (Robert Hale, 1986).

A few months after the Allies succeeded in liberating Paris from Nazi occupation, with the help of the Allied armies, Chagall published a letter in a Paris weekly, "To the Paris Artists":

{{quote|In recent years I have felt unhappy that I couldn't be with you, my friends. My enemy forced me to take the road of exile. On that tragic road, I lost my wife, the companion of my life, the woman who was my inspiration. I want to say to my friends in France that she joins me in this greeting, she who loved France and French art so faithfully. Her last joy was the liberation of Paris... Now, when Paris is liberated, when the art of France is resurrected, the whole world too will, once and for all, be free of the satanic enemies who wanted to annihilate not just the body but also the soul—the soul, without which there is no life, no artistic creativity.<ref name=Harshav/>{{rp|101}}}}