us-005578-irn538657-irn538732
type: RecordSet
archival history: The portrait was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2007 by Richard Katz, stepson of Carl Atkin.
biographical history: Annemarie Loewe was born on June 23, 1909, in Breslau, Germany (Wroclaw, Poland), to Oskar and Margarete Kassel Loewe, and was Polish. Annemarie was a professional cartoonist. She sang in the choir at the Breslau Synagogue. She married the director of the choir, Wilhelm (Willi) Durra on January 7, 1941. Willi was born on December 7, 1882, in Brieg, Germany (Brzeg, Poland), to Benjamin and Minna Schlesinger Durra. This was his second marriage; he had three children with his first wife, who died in 1920 during the Spanish flu epidemic. Willi was an independent businessman. Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. Anti-Jewish decrees were enacted to severely restrict Jewish participation in German society. In 1933, Breslau had a Jewish community of about 20,000, one of the largest in Germany. The main synagogue was destroyed by fire during the Kristallnacht pogrom on November 9-10, 1938. The Jewish population now numbered only a little over 10,000. Those still in Breslau were in forced labor service. On April 2, 1943, Annemarie and Willi were deported on transport 57-IX/4 to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia. The camp was primarily a collection center for deportations to ghettos and killings centers in the east, but Annemarie continued to draw and Willi directed a choir of inmates. On October 16, 1944, Willi was deported. Annemarie was liberated on May 9, 1945, when the Soviet Army entered the camp, two days after Germany’s surrender. On July 16, Annemarie was transferred to Deggendorf displaced persons camp in the American zone in Germany, arriving there on August 9. Other survivors from Theresienstadt were at the camp, and there was an active cultural community. Annemarie sang in some of the theatrical performances. She contributed illustrations to the Deggendorf Center Review, a newspaper issued by the Department of Culture of the Jewish Committee in the camp. Annemarie learned that Willi had been killed …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Watercolor portrait on cream-colored paper, depicting a dark haired man wearing a military style uniform. The man is depicted from the knees up in three-quarter profile. He has a long nose and a white cigarette between his lips, with smoke floating upwards, spelling out text in the air above his head. He is wearing an olive drab garrison cap with letters on the side, an olive drab unbuttoned overcoat with a curved patch with red lettering on the left sleeve, an olive drab short coat, and a khaki shirt, tie, and trousers. His left hand is in the trouser pocket, and a bottle with a red label is in the pocket of his short jacket. The artist’s signature is in the lower right corner. There are two irregular holes near the left edge of the page, and overall the edges are creased with numerous small tears.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
date: after 1945 August 23
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had subject: 001704
has or had subject: 907
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn538732
is or was included in: us-005578-irn538657
record resource extent: overall: Height: 10.500 inches (26.67 cm) | Width: 8.250 inches (20.955 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Watercolor portrait of Carl Atkin, former director of Deggendorf displaced persons camp in the American zone of Germany, and created by Annemarie Loewe Durra in 1945. On August 9, 1945, Annemarie arrived at Deggendorf after she and many other former prisoners were transferred from Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp where they had been imprisoned in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. There was an active cultural community at Deggendorf and Annemarie contributed illustrations to the Deggendorf Center Review, a newspaper issued by the camp’s Jewish Committee. Prior to the end of World War II in 1945, Carl accepted a post with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), an international humanitarian organization. On August 23, 1945, he led UNRRA Team 55 to the poorly run Deggendorf DP camp in the American-occupied zone of Germany, where they took over management. Carl and his team stabilized the food supply, secured housing facilities, fostered cultural life with lectures, concerts, and performances. Praised for his leadership, improvement of living conditions, and boosting of morale at Deggendorf, he left his directorship in December 1945, and was appointed UNRRA’s Coordinator of Jewish Affairs. In March 1946, he returned to the US, rejoined his family in Los Angeles, and continued to work for the organization. On July 2, 1947, UNRRA terminated its activities and Carl transitioned into sales and advertising, financial management for a nightclub that he co-owned, and eventually aerospace production management and documentation.
title: Watercolor portrait of Carl Atkin, former director of Deggendorf displaced persons camp