The drawing was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2003.
Fiszel Zylberberg-Zber was a Jewish artist born in Plock, Poland, on June 23, 1909. By the 1930s, he was living in France and established as an artist, especially known for his woodcuts. In May 1940, Nazi Germany invaded France. An armistice was signed in June. Germany occupief the northern and western regions. In 1941, the German began arresting and interning foreign born Jews. Zber was detained around this time. He was sent to Beaune-la-Rolande internment camp. In 1942, the German began deporting the inmates to concentration camps in the east. Zber was deported on Convoy 6 to Auschwitz concentration camp in German occupied Poland where he was killed on October 26, 1942, at the age of 33.
Two sketches in pencil on paper divided by a line across the center. On top, 4 men sit on backless benches around a table playing cards in front of a plank wall with 2 doors with windows. A pole sticks out of a wheelbarrow in the right foreground. On the bottom are several men sitting on small backless benches around an obscured table while a figure stands watching, with his hands behind him. In the background is a plank wall with a door with a window on right. It is signed and dated at the bottom.
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overall: Height: 8.250 inches (20.955 cm) | Width: 7.000 inches (17.78 cm)
Pencil drawing by Fiszel Zber of side by side drawings of camp inmates at rest at Beaune-Le-Rolande internment camp in France where he was imprisoned from 1941-1942. Nazi Germany invaded France in May 1940. After the June armistice, the Germans occupied the north and western regions. In 1941, the Germans began rounding up Jewish residents who were not born in France. Zber, an artist specializing in woodcuts, was born in Poland. He was arrested as a foreign born Jew in 1941 and interned in Beaune-le-Rolande. While there, he drew scenes of the camp and the daily activities of the inmates. In 1942, the Germans began to deport foreign born Jews to concentration camps in the east. Zber was deported to Auschwitz where he was killed, age 33, on Oct. 26, 1942.
Drawings of internment camp inmates by a Polish Jewish inmate