Virtual Tour of “Rendering Witness: Holocaust-Era Art as Testimony”

"Eight men in coats with stars, 1944" by Peter Loewenstein. Peter Loewenstein’s 1944 drawing depicts a scene from the Holocaust using faces, profiles, and jackets – a stark departure from Holocaust scenes that feature graphic or violent imagery. The men wear stern looks on their faces and are avoiding eye contact. Their jackets, two with visible Stars of David, mark them as Jews while their hats indicate cold weather. Yet these unnamed men leave many questions unanswered. Are they passing by one another or converging for a meeting? This work was drawn in 1944 – the same year that Loewenstein was deported from the Terezin Ghetto to Auschwitz, where he was murdered. His sister Gerda, a survivor of Terezin and Auschwitz, retrieved Loewenstein’s art after the war and later immigrated to the United States. She donated over 50 of Loewenstein’s drawings to the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Ink on Paper. Gift of Herman and Gerda Korngold.

"Lodz Ghetto Bridge, c. 1940 – 1944" by Vincent Brauner. A streetcar and civilian move uninhibited outside of the Lodz Ghetto beneath a crowded bridge traveled upon by beleaguered Jews. This bridge connected different sections of the Ghetto and prohibited Jews from interacting with the outside world. Born with the first name Yitzhok, Brauner (1887 – 1944) went by Vincent as an homage to Vincent van Gogh. He was a member of the Jewish avant-garde art group Yung-yidish (active in Lodz, Poland from 1918 - 1921) and studied painting in Krakow, Warsaw, and Berlin before World War II. He was deported from the Lodz Ghetto to Auschwitz, where he was murdered in 1944. Pen and ink, watercolor, and conté on paper adhered to wood. Gift of Elizabeth, Gail, and Sandy Peters.

"Terezin Courtyard, 1943" by Joseph (Jo) Eduard Adolf Spier, The Cavalier Barracks served as a living quarters for elderly inmates of the Terezin Ghetto, who are depicted here in front of the building. Their slow movement and heavy clothing, as well as the trees losing their leaves, suggest that the artist, Jo Spier (1900 – 1978), illustrated a cold autumn day. During World War II, the Nazis propagated the deceit that part of Terezin’s purpose was to serve as a safe settlement for elderly Jews to retire, which was far from the deadly truth. Spier, a well-known Jewish cartoonist and illustrator, was dismissed from the staff of the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf after Germany invaded and occupied the Netherlands in May 1940. He was deported to the Terezin Ghetto from Westerbork where he and his family remained until they were liberated by the Red Army in May 1945. After the war, Spier returned to the Netherlands and later immigrated to the United States in 1951. His family joined him shortly thereafter. Pen, wash, and watercolor on paper. Gift of Herbert von Peci.

"Terezin Yard, 1943" by Peter Loewenstein. Peter Loewenstein studied engineering at Charles University in Prague before his deportation to the Terezin Ghetto. He worked in Terezin’s technical department, forced to create propaganda art displaying the Ghetto’s productivity – drawings that bore no resemblance to the deadly realities of everyday life. While imprisoned, Loewenstein created secret drawings of his own, some of which are on display in Rendering Witness. This particular drawing leaves one wondering whether it was an official or a clandestine piece of art. Although the balconies are crowded, the courtyard buildings are clean and orderly, the people well-kempt. The tree with blossoming leaves in the corner adds to the sense of normalcy. Pencil, pen and ink on paper. Gift of Herman and Gerda Korngold.

"Broken Walls Between Yards, 1942" by Peter Loewenstein. Peter Loewenstein studied engineering at Charles University in Prague before his deportation to the Terezin Ghetto. While imprisoned, he was forced to create drawings idealizing the world of Terezin – drawings that bore no resemblance to the deadly realities of everyday life. But Loewenstein also created drawings in secret, drawings that exposed the true reality of life in Terezin. The wind blowing from the sky, the bare trees, and the broken wall in this drawing all serve as testimony, as a way of documenting what he truly saw. Pencil, pen, and ink on paper. Gift of Herman and Gerda Korngold.

"Children’s Home L410, 1943" by Helga Weissova. After the German invasion and occupation of Bohemia and Morovia (current day Czech Republic) on March 15, 1939, Helga Weissova (born November 10, 1929) was expelled from her school in Prague because she was Jewish. Her education continued through self-study and in classes organized by Prague’s Jewish community for Jewish children. The Nazis deported Weissova and her parents to the Terezin Ghetto on December 7, 1941 – just after her 12th birthday. She was separated from her family shortly thereafter. Weissova was able to send her first drawing, a snowman, to her father Otto, who was also in the Ghetto. Otto, who had always supported his daughter’s interest in art and literature, advised her, “Draw what you see.” Weissova followed this advice and produced approximately 100 drawings with her own art supplies that she brought to the Ghetto. Before Weissova and her mother’s deportation to Auschwitz in October 1944, she entrusted her drawings to an uncle who hid them behind a wall in the Magdeburg Barracks in Terezin. The United States Army liberated Weissova and her mother from Mauthausen on May 5, 1945. After the war, Weissova retrieved her drawings and returned to Prague with her mother. She completed her art education and continues to this day to create art. Weissova’s work has been exhibited in Europe and the United States. She currently lives in Prague. Colored pencil on paper. Collection of the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

"Terezin view from a window, 1943" by Joseph (Jo) Eduard Adolf Spier. This Terezin Ghetto living space is organized yet disheveled, empty of people yet full of signs of human habitation. Clothes border the open window, including a coat with a Star of David identifier hanging on the left. Buckets and bottles, maybe holding medicine or water, sit on the window sill. Through the window, a dark SS flag flies in the distance. Perhaps the artist, Jo Spier, included the flag as a symbol of the constant reminder of death that hung over prisoners in the Terezin Ghetto. Pen, ink, and watercolor on paper. Gift of Herbert von Peci.

"Book of Remembrances, c. 1942 – 1945" by Martha Klein von Peci. Despite the horrors of imprisonment in the Terezin Ghetto, Martha Klein von Peci managed to fill this book with poems, passages, and art created by fellow prisoners in her barrack and workplace. Many of the entries are uplifting, like one from Paul Winterstein, who lived from 1876 to 1945. He wrote, "Every book has its fate – Every house has its spirit – This house has a good angel – Whose name is Martha Klein von Peci." Martha Klein von Peci survived the Holocaust and left Czechoslovakia with her son, Herbert, in 1949. They lived in Argentina until receiving visas to immigrate to the United States in 1958. These pages made with pen, ink, colored pencil, and pencil on paper. Gift of Herbert von Peci.

"Litzmannstadt Spere 1942 Getto [sic], c. 1946" by an unknown artist. In early September 1942, the Nazis deported over 15,000 Jews who were children, elderly, or sick from the Lodz Ghetto to Chelmno death camp. This deportation had the full cooperation of Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, the controversial Chairman of the Ghetto’s Jewish Council, who hoped that cooperation with the Germans would lead to the survival of most of the Jewish prisoners. This brutal deportation came to be known as the Sperre (rendered here as Spere). This drawing leaves little to the imagination, and the addition of a clipping with Rumkowsi’s announcement of a curfew in the Ghetto before the deportation helps tell the full story. Watercolor, pencil, and collage on paper. Gift of Abraham and Pauline Piller and family. Artifact conservation made possible by the Gallery Educator Friends of the Museum Fund.

"Transport Leaving Terezin, 1943" by Helga Weissova. Among the many horrific experiences endured by victims of the Holocaust was deportation. Deportation, when a person was forcibly moved by the Nazis or their collaborators, often meant being separated from family and faced with certain death. Helga Weissova, a child in wartime, made deportation the subject of this drawing. Weissova depicts two deportees trailed by a Czech collaborator, surrounded by marks from a dark pencil. More visible are the Terezin Jewish prisoners who came to say goodbye but are being held back by two members of Terezin’s Jewish police. Colored pencil on paper. Collection of the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

"Railroad Connection Terezin-Bohusovice, 1943" by Peter Loewenstein. This drawing created by Peter Loewenstein, an artist forced to create propaganda art in the Terezin Ghetto, depicts a railroad. Constructed in 1943, the railway line that veers to the left connected Terezin to the train station at Bohusovice, Czechoslovakia. This accelerated deportations to and from Terezin. The distance between the Ghetto and the train station was less than two miles, yet the Nazis sought to maximize efficiency of the killing process. In the distance, railway cars symbolize the deportation of Jews and other persecuted groups to camps like Auschwitz, where Loewenstein was murdered in 1944. Ink and wash on paper. Gift of Herman and Gerda Korngold.

"Arrival at Auschwitz" by Alfred Kantor. Members of the SS and prisoners in striped uniforms with X’s on their backs orchestrate this chaotic scene of an arrival to Auschwitz. Transport after transport, prisoners arrived with their belongings because they had been given instruction to pack essential items before deportation. Upon arrival, their belongings were confiscated. Prisoners were then selected for hard labor or death by gassing. Alfred Kantor (1923 – 2003) arrived at the Terezin Ghetto in December 1941 following his deportation from Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he lived with his parents and two siblings. Although the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia ended his education at the Rotter School of Advertising Art, he continued to draw while in the Ghetto. The Nazis deported Kantor to Auschwitz in 1943, and while there he memorized scenes during the day and drew them in his barrack at night. A Jewish physician assigned to the camp infirmary allowed Kantor to draw there as well, providing him with a tiny watercolor set, putting them both at great risk of severe punishment. Later deported to Schwarzheide, Kantor continued to draw at night after his work shifts. As part of a death march, the Nazis sent him back to Terezin. Although some of the art he made during the war survived, Kantor destroyed most of his drawings immediately after their creation for fear of punishment. Upon liberation, Kantor briefly returned to Prague and then went to Deggendorf Displaced Persons Camp in July 1945. There he had an enormous artistic output that visually detailed his entire wartime experience. Kantor immigrated to the United States in 1947 and was later drafted into the United States Army through the Selective Service System. After his military service, Kantor finished his studies and worked as an artist in the advertising field in New York.Pencil, ink, crayon, and collage on paper. Gift of Alfred Kantor.

"Electric Barbed Wire, c. 1944 – 1945" by Alfred Kantor. The electrified fence Alfred Kantor depicts is seemingly endless. Used to prevent prisoners escaping, this fence is illustrated in a way that provides a sense of the massive size of Auschwitz. The watchtower guarding the fence and the barracks reinforces the lengths that the Nazis went to cut prisoners off from the outside world and keep them contained. Pencil, crayon, and collage on paper. Gift of Alfred Kantor.

"B II B Camp / Familienlager, c. 1944 – 1945" by Alfred Kantor. Two birds in the distance fly over the section of Auschwitz known as the Familienlager, or Terezin Family Camp. Established in September 1943, this family camp housed 5,000 Czech Jews deported from Terezin to Auschwitz, where they received unusual living arrangements. Family members on this transport were not separated into different sections of the camp, and individuals were allowed to keep their clothing. Despite this arrangement, living conditions were still horrendous, with little food or sanitation and a high mortality rate. After six months, the surviving Jews from this transport were murdered in the gas chambers. Pencil, crayon, and collage on paper. Gift of Alfred Kantor.

"Liberation at Nordhausen: Civilians Covering Corpse" by Marvin Hayle. Marvin Halye’s art is an outlier in "Rendering Witness." He was not a survivor, but an American liberator. As part of the 104th Infantry Division, he liberated Nordhausen. Shocked by what he saw, Halye immediately made a visual record of the camp with watercolor and chalk that he carried with him. Here, he depicts German civilians covering the dead at the order of the U.S. Army. By the time liberators arrived, almost all of the prisoners had been evacuated. Few survivors remained. After the war, Hayle studied at the Pratt Institute in New York on the GI Bill and later at the Art Students League. He went on to work in commercial art in New York City. Wwatercolor and chalk on paper. Gift of Aline K. Halye.

"Liberation at Nordhausen: Civilians Burying the Dead" by Marvin Hayle. Marvin Halye’s art stands apart in "Rendering Witness." He was a liberator with the U.S. Army who felt compelled to create visual record of what he saw. A member of the 104th Infantry Division, he liberated Nordhausen. Shocked by the conditions, Halye painted what he saw with watercolors and chalk that he carried with him. Here, he shows German civilians who lived in the vicinity who were brought to the camp by the U.S. Army to bury corpses. By the time the U.S. Army arrived, almost all of the prisoners had been evacuated. Few survivors remained. After the war, Hayle studied at the Pratt Institute in New York on the GI Bill and later at the Art Students League. He went on to work in commercial art in New York City. Watercolor and chalk on paper. Gift of Aline K. Halye.

"Portrait of an Unkown Man, c. 1943 – 1944" by Johann Eisler. Johann Eisler (1913 – 1945), a native of Czechoslovakia, studied art in Linz, Austria. Before his deportation from the Terezin Ghetto to Flossenbuerg concentration camp in 1944, Eisler created a living will, entrusting all his belongs in Terezin to his girlfriend, Eva Czeczowiczka, who was also imprisoned in Terezin. Eisler was murdered in Flossenbuerg, but Czeczowiczka survived. Decades later, Czeczowiczka, who still remained in Czechoslovakia, donated his belongings to the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Another Terezin survivor, Fred Terna, who immigrated to the United States after the Holocaust, greatly aided the facilitation of this donation. Pencil on photographic paper. Gift of Eva Cecovickova-Novotna.

"Portrait of an Unkown Man, c. 1943 – 1944" by Johann Eisler. Johann Eisler (1913 – 1945), a native of Czechoslovakia, studied art in Linz, Austria. Before his deportation from the Terezin Ghetto to Flossenbuerg concentration camp in 1944, Eisler created a living will, entrusting all his belongs in Terezin to his girlfriend, Eva Czeczowiczka, who was also imprisoned in Terezin. Eisler was murdered in Flossenbuerg, but Czeczowiczka survived. Decades later, Czeczowiczka, who still remained in Czechoslovakia, donated his belongings to the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Another Terezin survivor, Fred Terna, who immigrated to the United States after the Holocaust, greatly aided the facilitation of this donation. Pencil on photographic paper. Gift of Eva Cecovickova-Novotna.

Living Will by Johann Eisler. Johann Eisler (1913 – 1945), a native of Czechoslovakia, studied art in Linz, Austria. Before his deportation from the Terezin Ghetto to Flossenbuerg concentration camp in 1944, Eisler created a living will, entrusting all his belongs in Terezin to his girlfriend, Eva Czeczowiczka, who was also imprisoned in Terezin. Text of the living will: “I herewith declare that I have empowered Miss Eva Czeczowiczka AL-933 to put in order for me all affairs and that she is the owner of all my possessions and claims left in Theresienstadt. Johann Eisler DH 107 20-9-13. Signature comparison with salary lists. Theresienstadt, on the 22nd of September 1944.” Eisler was murdered in Flossenbuerg, but Czeczowiczka survived. Decades later, Czeczowiczka, who still remained in Czechoslovakia, donated his belongings to the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Another Terezin survivor, Fred Terna, who immigrated to the United States after the Holocaust, greatly aided the facilitation of this donation. Pencil on photographic paper. Gift of Eva Cecovickova-Novotna.

"Portrait, c. 1944 – 1945" by Manci Anis. Susan Weiss (1923 – 2003) was the subject of two portraits made by Manci Anis in Soemmerda slave labor camp, a sub-camp of Buchenwald in Germany. Weiss, a native of Velky Berezny, Czechoslovakia, was imprisoned with her family in 1944 in the Uzhorod Ghetto. The Nazis deported them to Auschwitz. Weiss and her sister, Ruthi, were later deported to Soemmerda. The artist, Manci Anis (1924 - ?), a fellow prisoner in Soemmerda, secretly drew both prisoners and members of the SS with any paper she could find. These two portraits survived because Weiss successfully hid them under her mattress and underneath her prisoner uniform. The smaller portrait includes a visible piece of cloth that Weiss tore from her dress in order to tie her hair. In 1945, Weiss and her sister escaped during a death march from Soemmerda and later learned they were the only survivors in their family who were in Europe during World War II. Colored pencil and pencil on paper. Gift of Susan Welber.

"Portrait, c. 1944 – 1945" by Manci Anis. Susan Weiss (1923 – 2003) was the subject of two portraits made by Manci Anis in Soemmerda slave labor camp, a sub-camp of Buchenwald in Germany. Weiss, a native of Velky Berezny, Czechoslovakia, was imprisoned with her family in 1944 in the Uzhorod Ghetto. The Nazis deported them to Auschwitz. Weiss and her sister, Ruthi, were later deported to Soemmerda. The artist, Manci Anis (1924 - ?), a fellow prisoner in Soemmerda, secretly drew both prisoners and members of the SS with any paper she could find. These two portraits survived because Weiss successfully hid them under her mattress and underneath her prisoner uniform. The smaller portrait includes a visible piece of cloth that Weiss tore from her dress in order to tie her hair. In 1945, Weiss and her sister escaped during a death march from Soemmerda and later learned they were the only survivors in their family who were in Europe during World War II. Colored pencil and pencil on paper. Gift of Susan Welber.

"Returned Deportee" by Alfred Lakos. The exact emotions and thoughts of this unnamed survivor are difficult to discern. However, the viewer has the impression that he is finally able to rest. Alfred Lakos, conscripted into a Hungarian Labor Battalion during World War II, created striking drawings of the Holocaust in Hungary. In 1945, after World War II, he stated, “…[W]ith my artistic ability I could leave these drawings of the terrible catastrophes for a permanent record.” Pencil on paper. Gift of Charles Barber in honor of Dr. Paul Barber.