The emotions of fear, sadness, surprise, anger and disgust can overwhelm during a traumatic event.

Twenty-one years ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners and flew two planes into the World Trade Center towers and a third plane into the Pentagon. Heroic passengers on the fourth plane fought the hijackers, and the plane crashed in an empty field in Pennsylvania.

Nearly 3,000 people died, and more than 25,000 were injured by four airplanes turned into weapons. Television stations broadcast the events live into the homes of millions of people that September morning, stirring emotions to a boil and devastating many.

For renowned artist A. Thomas Schomberg, those emotions need to be expressed. He worked for almost two decades doing just that in creating “9/11 Sculptures: Vignettes of Emotion.” The bronze sculptures, which are painted white, journey through the emotions of what the victims must have felt.

The display featuring the artworks opened at the Holocaust Museum LA in Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles starting Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022.

“Resistance” by sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg is part of his “9/11 Sculptures: Vignettes of Emotion” exhibit at the Holocaust Museum LA Thursday, September 8, 2022. The work is a collection of eight-foot-tall columns. Each with one to four figures expressing separate and unique emotions that victims experienced on 9/11. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Schomberg’s accomplishments as a sculptor include the Rocky Statue in Philadelphia. In the early 1980s, actor Sylvester Stallone commissioned Schomberg to create a bronze statue of his film character, Rocky Balboa, which he later gifted to the city of Philadelphia. Schomberg’s other work can be found in the collections of museums and collectors worldwide.

The 9/11 attacks gave him an overwhelming sense of sorrow. “I don’t care where you were at the time of the attack,” he said. “At least as an American, you were affected.”

Soon after the attacks, he and his wife went to New York to visit a family member. At Union Station he saw thousands of fliers posted on walls with photos of the victims and vast numbers of missing people whose bodies were never found, incinerated as the two tallest World Trade Center towers collapsed and burned to the ground.

It was then he realized the scope of the lost lives.

People look at sculptor Thomas Schomberg’s “9/11 Sculptures: Vignettes of Emotion” exhibit at the Holocaust Museum LA Thursday, September 8, 2022. The work is a collection of eight-foot-tall columns. Each with one to four figures expressing separate and unique emotions that victims experienced on 9/11. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

He returned to his studio and began putting his thoughts in writing before starting the modeling on the first piece, “Door of Sorrow.” Using the human form to convey emotion, each painted white casting is attached to a black column, creating a stark contrast.

“Almost all the figures are nude because the people were all so vulnerable,” he says. “The clerical workers are now with the CEOs — there is no social, economic distinction.” Schomberg says of the equality of people during their last moments, “They are all in the same place now.”

The detail in the figures, faces, hands, and feet express emotions he wanted to convey. “I wanted to make a difference. In my case, I felt I had a particular skill set I wanted to express.”

Jordanna Gessler, vice president of Education and Exhibits at the Holocaust Museum LA, sees the importance of his exhibit at a  museum dedicated to the Holocaust.

“Whether it’s Holocaust history or 9/11 history,” she said, “understanding that we need to be having conversations that foster kindness, that foster empathetic responses, that foster mutual respect — learning from each other’s differences to strengthen a more vibrant community and not forget.”

Renowned sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg at Holocaust Museum LA with his “9/11 Sculptures: Vignettes of Emotion,” exhibit Thursday, September 8, 2022. The work is a collection of eight-foot-tall columns. Each with one to four figures expressing separate and unique emotions that victims experienced on 9/11. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Schomberg feels the importance of recognizing each victims. “I really wanted to emphasize the individual, and I want to emphasize what these poor souls had to go through during that hour-plus of tragedy. That is why the 911 exhibit exists for me. I am a sculptor, so I expressed it three dimensionally,” he said.

Schomberg hopes his work helps people remember the events of that day, and he hopes that people will reflect on the individuals and what they suffered as they lost their lives through an act of terror.

“Companions” by sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg is part of his “9/11 Sculptures: Vignettes of Emotion” exhibit at the Holocaust Museum LA Thursday, September 8, 2022. The work is a collection of eight-foot-tall columns. Each with one to four figures expressing separate and unique emotions that victims experienced on 9/11. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Gessler notes that as time passes, eyewitnesses to the Holocaust and 9/11 will all be gone, so reminders become more important.

“It has been 21 years since 9/11, an entire generation has been born since then, and they don’t have 9/11 in their memory,” she says. “As we move further away from the Holocaust, with the last Holocaust survivors dying, there will be a generation that will not be able to speak to a Holocaust survivor.

Gessler asked, “So how do we continue educating and learning about history? As generations have not witnessed them themselves — have not been the eyewitness — I think with exhibitions and the museum, this is a transitional moment for conversation with people that aren’t eyewitnesses to history anymore.”

People look at sculptor Thomas Schomberg’s “9/11 Sculptures: Vignettes of Emotion” exhibit at the Holocaust Museum LA Thursday, September 8, 2022. The work is a collection of eight-foot-tall columns. Each with one to four figures expressing separate and unique emotions that victims experienced on 9/11. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

For more information on the exhibit, please visit https://www.holocaustmuseumla.org/