us-005578-irn42320-irn42949
type: RecordSet
identifier: irn42949
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Ink wash drawing on white rectangular paper depicting a man in a military uniform staring at a debris filled street. One arm is in a sling. He stands in the foreground looking at the demolished buildings, blocks of concrete, crushed brick buildings, fallen lampposts, and crumbling doorways. Two men in the background walk through the wreckage. There is a paragraph length artist’s caption in Hebrew, dates, a number, and the artist’s name inscribed on the front and a number covered with correction fluid. front, lower left, handwritten, black ink : Hebrew text [The ruins of the Warsaw ghetto. It is difficult to find ones way among the islands of destruction. I tried unsuccessfully to look for relatives. I eat and sleep in an army barracks and continue searching.] / August 45 front, lower left, pencil : 3 (over correction fluid)
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn42320-irn42949/alternateIDs/1
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn42320-irn42949/acquisitions/1
has record set type: Item
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1997-12-31
record resource extent: overall: Height: 9.125 inches (23.178 cm) | Width: 11.625 inches (29.528 cm)
has or had some members with language: heb
has or had holder: us-005578
title: Autobiographical ink drawing of a uniformed man searching in the rubble of a destroyed city
scope and content: Pen and wash drawing from a series of 19 captioned, narrative illustrations created by Peretz Chorshati (born Pavel Szenwald) between 1994 and 1997 about his wartime experiences. It depicts an injured Pavel staring at the ruins of a demolished city block. Pavel returned to the destroyed Warsaw ghetto in August 1945 to search for surviving relatives. Pavel was an 18 year old student in Warsaw when the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. He was imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto until his father got him forged papers and he escaped. He posed as a German national, and joined the German army. In March 1943, Pavel deserted the German army and joined the Bielski partisan group. After the war ended on May 7, 1945, Pavel returned to Warsaw and joined Beitar, a right wing Zionist group. In June 1946, he illegally emigrated to British ruled Palestine.
is or was included in: us-005578-irn42320
biographical history: Pavel Szenwald was born on December 28, 1920, in Warsaw, Poland. He was a student at the Technical College in Warsaw when the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. A few months later, he was imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto and in March 1941 was transported to the Nedev labor camp; he escaped and returned to the ghetto. In 1942, Pavel used forged Polish papers obtained by his father and escaped the ghetto. He posed as a German national, joined the German army, and served as a guard at a prisoner of war camp for Soviet prisoners. Believing his identity was about to be revealed, he fled his post in March 1943 and traveled over 600 miles to the Lida ghetto in Poland (Belarus). He escaped in April to the forest in Belarus and joined the Bielski partisans as a machine gunner and saboteur. In December, the group established a permanent base in the Naliboki forest which was under the administration of a Soviet partisan group led by General Chernyshev. The Bielski group established a relationship with the Soviet partisans who provided them with weapons. In July 1944, the camp was liberated by the Soviet Army; Pavel and his battalion fought alongside the Soviets. After the war in Europe ended on May 7, 1945, Pavel was drafted into the Soviet Army. Pavel returned to Warsaw in August 1945. He stayed at an army barracks and searched the ghetto ruins for surviving relatives but found none. Not wanting to return to his Russian army unit, Pavel decided to go to Palestine. In October 1945, he joined Beitar, a right wing Zionist group which was involved in illegal immigration and military activities. He gave up his papers, uniform, and weapons in exchange for ragged clothing and forged papers declaring him a Greek refugee. In November 1945, he crossed the border into Czechoslovakia with other Poles. They stayed in a safe house in Prague and were forbidden to leave, but Pavel heard that he could get cakes in town and left. He stopped to ask directions and was arrested. His iden…
archival history: The autobiographical drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010 by Peretz Chorshati.
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1997-01-01
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
date: 1945 August