us-005578-irn74897-irn4387
has or had some members with language: fra
has or had identifier: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn74897-irn4387/alternateIDs/1
type: RecordSet
is or was included in: us-005578-irn74897
identifier: irn4387
conditions of use: Restrictions on use. Donor retains copyright for this collection.
biographical history: Walter Spitzer was born on June 14, 1927, in the Czech-Polish border town of Cieszyn (Województwo Śląskie), Poland, to Grete Weiss and Samuel Spitzer. He had a brother, Harry. It was a pleasant, upper middle class existence and Walter’s artistic talent was noticed early. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. In 1940, his brother was taken away by German soldiers. Shortly after, his father died from complications after surgery. Soon after, all the Jews of Cieszyn were banished from their homes. Walter, age 13, and his mother sought refuge in Strzemieszyce, near Sosnowiec and Bedzin in southwest Poland. Conditions were believed to be better there; the ghetto was open and the Jewish Council was extremely organized. Walter was able to support them by working as a photographer and as a welder at the Eisenwerke (Steel Factory). But in June 1943, the Jews were expelled from Strzemieszyce and transported to Blechhammer labor camp. Walter was separated from his mother and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he was tattooed with the number, 178489. In January 1945, Walter was forced on a death march to Gross-Rosen, from where he was taken to Buchenwald by train and assigned the number, 124465. In his autobiography, Spitzer relates a promise that he made to the German political prisoner in charge of his barracks. This man told Spitzer that he would keep him off the next transport lists, if he promised to tell with his pencils all that he saw in the camps. While at Buchenwald, Walter made portraits and drawings which he bartered for bread. He also did clandestine drawings of forced labor. Most of his camp drawings were lost when the camp was liquidated. The inmates were forced on a death march to Sylésie in February, then to Gera, a Buchenwald subcamp. While on the forced march to Gera, in April 1945, Spitzer was liberated by the United States Army. In May, he was transported to Austria, where he was taken in by the 3256 Signal Service Company of the United States Arme…
scope and content: Intaglio etched print created in 1955 by Walter Spitzer based upon his experiences as an inmate in Blechhammer and Buchenwald concentration camps from 1943-1945. Following the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Walter fled with his family from Cieszyn (Województwo Śląskie). In 1940, his brother, Harry, was taken away by German soldiers and his father, Samuel, died after surgery. In June 1943, he and his mother, Gretta, were deported to Blechhammer labor camp where they were separated. Walter was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, then Buchenwald, where the 17 year-old Spitzer began documenting camp life. He promised a fellow inmate to tell with his pencils all that he saw in the camps. Walter's family did not survive the war and he settled in France. He became a professional artist, creating an eloquent artistic record of the Shoah. Spitzer did the original drawings for this print set in 1945, following his liberation by US troops while on a death march. This print is part of a set of nine, number 2 of 30. Many of the drawings feature inmates referred to as Muselmann by the other prisoners, who avoided them. These are prisoners who are near death due to exhaustion, illness, starvation, or hopelessness. This print depicts a man seated at a table, sleeping with a peaceful expression on his face, next to his empty food bowl, while a skeletal inmate standing nearby looks on with longing and despair.
date: 1943 June-1945 April
has or had holder: us-005578
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
record resource extent: overall: Height: 19.250 inches (48.895 cm) | Width: 12.750 inches (32.385 cm)
has record set type: Item
has end date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1955-12-31
results or resulted from: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/units/us-005578-irn74897-irn4387/acquisitions/1
has beginning date: http://lod.ehri-project-test.eu/dates/1955-01-01
archival history: The etching was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991 by Ani Mander.
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Monochrome black, edition 2/30. Scene from the interior of a barracks in a concentration camp. In the background prisoners lie on their bunks. In foreground, a prisoner sleeps on a table on which an empty bowl and spoon was placed, while another prisoner looks at him.
title: Tomorrow my turn? Etching by Walter Spitzer of a skeletal concentration camp inmate gazing at the empty food bowl of another