us-005578-irn60875-irn61228
type: RecordSet
archival history: The drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1995 by Esther Lurie.
biographical history: Esther Lurie (1913-1998) was born in Liepaja (formerly Libau), Latvia, to a religious, intellectual Jewish family. Her parents were Josef and Bluma and she had five older sisters and an older brother. The family was forced to move to Riga during World War I (1914-1918), when Liepāja, a Baltic seaport which was then part of the Russian Empire, was taken over as a military port. Esther’s artistic gifts were nurtured from an early age. From 1931 -1934, she studied theatrical set design at the Instituts des Arts Decoratifs in Brussels, Belgium; in early 1934, she went to Antwerp, Belgium, to study drawing and painting at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts. Most of her family emigrated to Palestine in 1934 and Esther joined them there. She worked with the Hebrew Theater, producing set decorations, and by 1938, had her first one women art show, winning the Dizengoff Prize. In 1939, Esther went on a study-exhibition tour throughout Europe. She was visiting her sister, Muta, in Kovno (Kaunus), Lithuania, when World War II broke out and she was trapped in the area. In 1940, the Soviet Army invaded and occupied Lithuania and the persecution of Jews became widespread. In June-July 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and soon occupied Lithuania. Almost immediately, German Einsatzgruppe (mobile killing units) and their Lithuanian auxiliaries began systematic massacres of Jews throughout the country. By November 1941, the surviving Jews of Kovno were imprisoned in a sealed ghetto surrounded by barbed wire. It was extreme overcrowded and there weresevere food shortages and frequent outbreaks of disease. Esther immediately began to record her experiences with sketches and written testimony on whatever little scraps of paper she could find. This was not easy and it could be dangerous – they were always under observation from guards. But other ghetto residents who saw her drawings thought it was important that someone should show ‘how it was’ and make a permanent record of their …
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Sketch in ink on paper of a figure in a hat and long, belted coat with a Star of David badge outlined on the back, which is towards the viewer. The right hand is in a side pocket and the handle of a long shovel or hoe, with the blade extending upward, rests on the left shoulder. The artist’s signature is at the bottom in Hebrew.
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1941-01-01
has beginning date: 1957-01-01
has end date: 1941-12-31
has end date: 1957-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: heb
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn61228
is or was included in: us-005578-irn60875
record resource extent: overall: Height: 7.250 inches (18.415 cm) | Width: 4.250 inches (10.795 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Ink sketch of a worker carrying a shovel drawn by Esther Lurie in 1957 recreating a drawing she did in Kovno Ghetto in 1941. Esther did hundreds of drawings in the ghetto but most were lost. Esther, originally from Liepaja, Latvia, settled in Palestine in 1934. She was visiting her sister in Kovno (Kaunas, Lithuania] in summer 1941, when it was occupied by Nazi Germany. She was confined to the ghetto and had to create portraits and paintings for the Germans. She also, at the request of the Jewish Council, dedicated herself to recording the daily life of the residents. In July 1944, the ghetto was liquidated. Esther was sent to Stutthof concentration camp, where she continued to draw. Her family members were sent to Auschwitz and murdered. In August 1944, Esther was deported to Leibisch, and liberated by the Soviet Army on January 21, 1945. During the journey back to Palestine, she lived in a displaced persons camp in Italy, where her drawings of Leibisch were exhibited.
title: Sketch of a worker carrying a shovel drawn by Esther Lurie