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.
Several portrait studies in pencil on paper. At the top are 4 men standing around looking downward with their hands in their pockets. Two face men each other on left, one leans against a pole with his back to the viewer, and the man on right leans against a wall with his arms folded across his chest. In the bottom left is a man in left profile leaning against a wall with his hand in his pocket. To the right is a man sitting in left profile with his arms straddling his raised knees. Below is the head and shoulders of a man with his back to the viewer, his elbows on a table, holding his head. It is signed and dated at the bottom.
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overall: Height: 8.250 inches (20.955 cm) | Width: 7.125 inches (18.098 cm)
Studies of men in repose drawn by Fiszel Zber 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.
Studies of camp inmates by a Polish Jewish inmate