us-005578-irn513390-irn514557
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
is or was included in: us-005578-irn513390
date: approximately 1977
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn513390-irn514557/alternateIDs/1
conditions of use: Restrictions on use
title: Leo Haas illustration of the Pope blessing Himmler for crucifying an inmate on barbed wire
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Watercolor and ink drawing over pencil on paper with an image of a bald prisoner in a striped uniform jacket and pants suspended by the wrists on an electrified barbed wire fence, arms extended, head hanging down, and feet crossed, as if crucified. To the right is a caricature of the pope with a large, greedy grin, in a papal tiara topped by a dollar sign, $, and a white robe with a black surplice and shoes. His hands are raised in blessing over the head of a kneeling man, Himmler, in a Nazi uniform, looking up at the pope with his hand, dripping blood, over his heart. It is signed by the artist. front, bottom, cursive, blue ink : Papežikè požèbuá?? za pi??? dodávky nebi. [Pontifical deliveries to heaven.] back, top left corner, pencil : M5VM back, right, blue stamp : Schvàleno k tisku [Approved for printing]
archival history: The watercolor painting was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003.
type: RecordSet
scope and content: Watercolor created by Leo Haas depicting a satiric cartoon of Pope Pius XII, a kneeling Nazi with bloody hands, and a prisoner suspended on barbed wire, probably created for Eulenspiegel magazine where Haas was art director. Haas, 38, a Czech Jew and a professional artist, was arrested in 1939 in Ostrava in German occupied Czechoslovakia for being a Communist. He was deported to Nisko labor camp in Poland, then shipped back to Ostrava to do forced labor. In September 1942, he was sent to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp, where he became part of a tight knit group of artists determined to secretly document the misery and suffering of daily life in the ghetto. They hid their work in the camp, and much was recovered postwar. In summer 1944, they were accused by the Gestapo of smuggling their 'gruesome' work out of the camp and were arrested and tortured. In October, Haas was deported to Auschwitz, and a month later, to Sachsenhausen. In February 1945, he was transported to Mauthausen and then Ebensee. He was liberated there on May 4-5 by American troops.
record resource extent: overall: Height: 13.250 inches (33.655 cm) | Width: 16.625 inches (42.228 cm)
has or had some members with language: ces
biographical history: Leo Haas was born on April 15, 1901, in Opava, Czechoslovakia, Austro-Hungary (now Czech Republic), formerly Troppau, an ethnic German region in Silesia. Leo was the oldest of four children in a Jewish family. He received art training while a youth. In 1919, Haas moved to Karlsruhe, Germany, to attend the Art Academy. He supported himself by working as a musician in local bars and by selling paintings. In 1922, he moved to Berlin where he studied with Emil Orlik and Wilhelm Jäckel. He absorbed the bold, dramatic styles of the Expressionist and Modernist movements flourishing in the city. He closely studied the work of graphic artists such as Goya and Toulouse-Lautrec in his 1923 travels in France. In 1925, he moved to Vienna, Austria, and established himself as a portraitist and newspaper caricaturist. In 1926, Haas returned to Opava, where he continued his career as painter and graphic artist, and set up a lithography studio. He also designed sets for a local theater troupe. Haas married Sophie Hermann in 1929. He was active in the Communist Party and several artist’s cooperatives. In the fall of 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the Sudetenland border of Czechoslovakia, which included Opava. Antisemitism surged after the takeover. Haas’s work was denounced as degenerate. After the Kristallnacht pogrom on early November, he and his wife moved to Ostrava to live with her parents. In March 1939, Germany annexed the provinces of Bohemia and Moravia. German allies took over other regions and Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. There were widespread arrests of Jews, Communists, and prominent community members. In June, Jews were barred from most economic activity and property was confiscated. That September, Germany invaded Poland, the start of the Second World War. Haas was arrested for being a Communist and sent to Nisko labor camp near Lublin in German occupied Poland, where he drove supply wagons. He made portraits of SS camp personnel, in exchange for extra food and art suppl…
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn514557
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn513390-irn514557/acquisitions/1