Drawing in ink wash on light brown paper depicting 4 female inmates and a guard in a concentration camp. There are 3 older women in the foreground, all with gaunt, wrinkled faces. They are wearing civilian dresses and heels. In the center is a woman walking to the left with a cane. She has thin legs, short hair, sunken cheeks, a large, pointed nose, and a large Adam’s apple at her neck. The woman on the left is walking forward. She has thin arms, sunken cheeks and a large hooked nose. The woman on the right is walking to the right, using an umbrella as a cane. She has wide legs, a large nose, and a pointed chin. In the background is a woman in a jacket and skirt and a uniformed guard with a helmet and rifle. There are 2 buildings with peaked roofs behind them. The ground is lightly shaded with ink wash. The title, artist’s name, and an inscription are written above the lower edge. front, lower left corner, pencil : für Lisbeth Kaufmann / bei ihren Besuch in Düsseldorf 1954 [for Lisbeth Kaufmann at their visit to Düsseldorf 1954] front, lower right corner, handwritten, black ink : Badenser Jüdinnen im Camp de Noé (H.G.) back, lower center, pencil : 92 / F82 – H.K.
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The watercolor painting was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988.
Karl Schwesig was born on June 19, 1898, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. His father was a miner. From 1916 to 1918, Schwesig served in the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). In 1918, Schwesig began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dusseldorf. In 1921, he left the conservative academy and joined the Junge Rhineland artist group. In 1924, Schwesig cofounded the satirical magazine Die Peitsche (The Whip). The right wing Nazi Party was growing rapidly in popularity duirng the 1920s and Schwesig was an outspoken anti-Nazi. He joined the Communist Party in the late 1920’s. Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933 and the country was soon ruled by a Nazi dictatorship. On July 11, 1933, Schwesig was arrested for his anti-Nazi commentary. He was detained by the SA and interrogated for the names of colleagues who also resisted the Nazis. He was sent to Ulmer Höhe prison in Dusseldorf. In 1934, he was convicted of treason and served his sentence in Bendahl prison in Wuppertal. After his release on November 18, 1934, Schwesig was granted political asylum in Belgium and lived in Antwerp. In 1937, his German citizenship was revoked and his property in Germany was confiscated by the Nazi regime. On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded Belgium. Schwesig was arrested and deported to St. Cyprien internment camp in Vichy France. In October, he was moved to Gurs internment camp after St. Cyprien was destroyed by flooding. In February 1941, he was transferred to Noé internment camp. In March 1943, he was sent to Nexon internment camp and classified as a politcal prisoner. In June, Schwesig was sent to Fort Romainville prison in Paris and in July to Ulmer Höhe prison in Dusseldorf. Throughout his imprisonment, Schwesig drew images of daily life in the camps. Schwesig was liberated in Ulmer Höhe after American forces captured Dusseldorf on April 17, 1945. The war ended when Germany surrendered on May 7. Schwesig stayed in Dusseldorf. He died, age 57, in 1955.
overall: Height: 22.500 inches (57.15 cm) | Width: 19.875 inches (50.483 cm)
Ink wash drawing created by Karl Schwesig in 1948 in Dusseldorf. The drawing depicts Jewish women from Baden in Noe internment camp in France, where Schwesig was held from February to March 1941. After Hitler came to power in January 1933, Schwesig, a Communist, was arrested and imprisoned for 16 months. After his release in 1935, he lived in Antwerp, Belgium. On May 10, 1940, Germany invaded Belgium. Schwesig was arrested and sent to Vichy France, where he was held in St. Cyprien, Gurs, Noe, and Nexon internment camps. In 1943, he was sent to Ulmer Hoeh prison in Dusseldorf, where he was liberated by American forces in April 1945.
Watercolor created by Karl Schwesig postwar of Jewish prisoners in a concentration camp