Charcoal drawing of bunks in a cluttered barrack room

Identifier
irn77155
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1989.2.93
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Czech
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 13.750 inches (34.925 cm) | Width: 17.625 inches (44.768 cm)

pictorial area: Height: 8.625 inches (21.908 cm) | Width: 11.625 inches (29.528 cm)

Archival History

The drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Mark Talisman.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Mark Talisman

Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Scope and Content

Charcoal drawing of a room lined with bunk beds created by an unknown artist at Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia. The camp opened in November 24, 1941 and was in operation about 3.5 years, until May 2, 1945. The German SS imprisoned certain categories of German, Austrian, and Czech Jews in the ghetto, including many prominent intellectual or cultural figures. There was a large Technical Department where many artists were assigned to work, creating technical drawings, maps, etc. for the camp administration. Many of them secretly created works documenting the actual overcrowded, disease ridden conditions of the camp. The works were buried or hidden behind walls and recovered postwar. Roughly 140,000 Jews were sent to Theresienstadt; nearly 90,000 were sent to camps in the east where most died, and about 33,000 perished in Theresienstadt.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Drawing in charcoal on paper with a perforated top edge depicting the interior of a cluttered room. In the center is a 2 tiered bunkbed with objects scattered on top. Along the left wall is another bunkbed with a ladder and a window above with open drapes and a distant view of the landscape. Along the back wall are windows through which a landsc Rays of sun shining through windows light up parts of the room and cast a shadow across the floor. The drawing is taped to a windowpane mat with a paper adhered to the back.

mat, back, on paper, black ink : 1. Kavalce /uhel/ x / 20 [Bunks charcoal] mat, back, top right corner, colored pencil : 7

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.