Art has always been a profoundly unique human catalyst for expressing hope, inspiration, communication, and passion. As one of the darkest events in human history, the Holocaust (1933-1945) served as the story that suffering artists needed to share with the world. As a German-Jewish artist who died in Auschwitz, Felix Nussbaum, said right before his death in 1944, “When I perish, do not allow my pictures to die with me. Show them to the people.” Though the Holocaust is one of the most tragic events in human history, it is incredibly important that the stories of the dead, and survivors alike, were shared through the power of artists. Those who suffered in the camps, whether they be young or old, expressed their emotions through the stroke of
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A survivor named David Olère made Holocaust related drawings until his death in 1985. According to usf.edu, Olère was born in Poland on January 19th, 1902 and as a young adult studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. He then moved to Berlin at a young age. Sadly, On March 2, 1943, he was one of approximately 1,000 Jews deported to Auschwitz. Olère began to draw at Auschwitz during the last days of the camp, when the SS became less attentive. The importance of Olère’s work lies in it’s exceptional documentary value, as there are no photos of what happened in the gas chambers and crematoria. He was also the first witness to draw plans and cross-sections to explain how the crematoria worked. As written by usf.edu, “The works of art he produced after his release were created out of an obligation he felt to those who did not survive. He believed he had to tell the true story of their fate, and he did so in the best way he could, through his art. In his paintings he himself is sometimes present as a ghostly face, floating in the background, a silent, pained witness observing the inhuman scenes that could not ever be erased from his memory.” Some of Olère’s works include, Priest and Rabbi (1989), Arrival of a Convoy (1989), Leaving for Work (1946), David Olère Working in a Tunnel at Melk (1947), The Food of the Dead for the Living (1989), and The Experimental Injection
A survivor named David Olère made Holocaust related drawings until his death in 1985. According to usf.edu, Olère was born in Poland on January 19th, 1902 and as a young adult studied at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. He then moved to Berlin at a young age. Sadly, On March 2, 1943, he was one of approximately 1,000 Jews deported to Auschwitz. Olère began to draw at Auschwitz during the last days of the camp, when the SS became less attentive. The importance of Olère’s work lies in it’s exceptional documentary value, as there are no photos of what happened in the gas chambers and crematoria. He was also the first witness to draw plans and cross-sections to explain how the crematoria worked. As written by usf.edu, “The works of art he produced after his release were created out of an obligation he felt to those who did not survive. He believed he had to tell the true story of their fate, and he did so in the best way he could, through his art. In his paintings he himself is sometimes present as a ghostly face, floating in the background, a silent, pained witness observing the inhuman scenes that could not ever be erased from his memory.” Some of Olère’s works include, Priest and Rabbi (1989), Arrival of a Convoy (1989), Leaving for Work (1946), David Olère Working in a Tunnel at Melk (1947), The Food of the Dead for the Living (1989), and The Experimental Injection