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Self portrait in red conte crayon by a Hungarian Jewish musician while living in hiding
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overall: Height: 12.375 inches (31.433 cm) | Width: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm)
Self portrait by Emeric Lazar in 1944 while he was living in hiding Paris, France, after his February 1943 release from Drancy internment camp. Emeric had come to Paris from Budapest in 1928 to study music. He was the house composer at Le Casino de Paris when Nazi Germany invaded France in May 1940. France surrendered in June and Paris became the seat of the German military occupation. Anti-Jewish measures were enacted and, in August, an internment camp for foreign Jews was established in Drancy, a northeastern suburb of Paris. Emeric was imprisoned there on August 21, 1941. The camp became a major transit center for the deportation of Jews. In the summer of 1942, the Germans systematically deported Jews from Drancy to killing centers in Poland. On July 10, 1942, Emeric obtained a copy of his French baptism certificate from the archives of the Archbishop of Paris. He was released from Drancy on February 22, 1943. The camp was staffed by French police until July 1, 1943, when the Germans took control of the camp. Emeric lived in hiding in Paris until the city was liberated by American troops on August 25, 1944. Emeric then worked in an American Red Cross nightclub where he met US Army Lieutenant Hedwiga Ferlin. She came to the club during the day to practice the piano. The couple married on October 20, 1945, and left for New York in August 1946.
Realistic, self portrait drawing in red conte crayon on discolored, light brown paper depicting the face of a middle aged man in right profile with his side parted hair slicked back from his high forehead. He looks outward, his pupils visible, with thin lines under his eyes and around his closed, mouth with curved upper lip with long, slightly upturned corners and a deeply creased philtrum below his long nose. His face is shaded with fine hatching. The artist’s signature, date, and French text are in the lower right corner.
The drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2012 by Alessandra Bergstrom, George Lazar, Stephen Lazar, and Linda Walker, the children of Emeric Lazar.
Imre (Emeric) Lazar was born on July 8, 1903, in Vagbeszterce, Hungary, to a Jewish couple, Moritz (Maurice) and Malvine Rosenfeld Lazar. Moritz, a businessman, was born in 1878 in Vagbeszterce. Malvine was born in 1877 in Vienna, Austria. Soon after Imre’s birth, the family moved to Budapest. Imre’s brother Gyorgy, was born on June 18, 1906. The boys grew up with private teachers and governesses. When Imre was twelve, he began music lessons. He later studied music and composition in Budapest. In September 1928, Imre, now Emeric, was living in Pars. He had moved there to study at the Paris Conservatoire under Alfred Cortot, specializing in the piano. He performed solo and with his own orchestra, appearing in shows with Josephine Baker and touring with Jeannette MacDonald, and composed several popular songs. In 1933, Emeric became the house composer and a conductor for Le Casino de Paris. In 1939, his father Moritz died of heart disease in Budapest. Germany invaded France on May 10, 1940. On June 22, France signed an armistice with Germany and Paris became the seat of the German military occupation in northern and western France. In August 1941, the Germans established Drancy internment camp in Paris to detain foreign born Jews. The camp was administered by French police until July 1943 when it was taken over by the German and an SS officer, Alois Brunner, was made commandant. Emeric was imprisoned in Drancy on August 21, 1941. By the summer of 1942, Drancy was a major transit camp for the deportation of Jews from France to concentration camps in Poland. Emeric acquired a copy of a French baptismal certificate, under the name Emeric Mattheiu Lazar, on July 10, 1942. He was released from Drancy on February 22, 1943. Emeric remained in Paris, living in hiding with the assistance of friends. The German forces in Paris surrendered on August 25, 1944. After liberation, Emeric worked in an American Red Cross nightclub; the French clubs were closed. While working at the club, he met 1st Lieutenant Hedwiga Ferlin, a US Army nurse born in 1919 in Jolliet, Illinois. Hedwiga came to the club frequently to practice piano. They married in Paris on October 20, 1945. Emeric was given permission to immigrate to the US as the spouse of an American service member. The couple sailed from Bremerhaven, Germany, aboard the USAT Bridgeport on August 7, 1946, arriving in New York on August 24. They had a son and a daughter before moving to Florida in 1948, where they later had another son and daughter. Emeric continued composing, and established himself as a music teacher in St. Petersburg. He became a naturalized citizen in 1950. Emeric’s brother Gyorgy, and his wife, the former Ilona Esslinger, both furriers, had survived the war by living in hiding in Budapest. In 1949, Gyorgy was co-director of the Hungarian Foreign Trade Committee. In September, when the other director, Erdi, was arrested by the government, Gyorgy decided to flee Hungary, as he had been vocal opponent of many Communist policies. With the assistance of the Bricha organization, they reached Hallein displaced persons camp in Austria. In 1951, they emigrated to Brazil. Emeric’s mother, age 85, died in 1962 in Budapest. Emeric, age 81, died in St. Petersburg on January 8, 1984. Emeric's brother Gyorgy died in November 1983.