On the trail of art after the horrors of Auschwitz. Dispatches from a study trip.

The picture cycle vertically aligned in the visitor foyer of the Reichstag building, Berlin 2019
The picture cycle vertically aligned in the visitor foyer of the Reichstag building, Berlin 2019

The group then made their way to the site of the Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau (PMO) (Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum). During the tour they passed through the exhibition: The exhibition doesn’t just cover the story of the camp’s history, spatially it also covers the whole area of the camp. The red brick buildings of the barracks glowed in the afternoon sun – it is in remarkable contrast to the story that took place here which is displayed for all to see. The rooms were all filled with different groups of visitors. The “highlights”, if you can call them that, included the rooms housing the collections of personal artefacts belonging to the prisoners, which were taken from them when they arrived at the concentration camp. The mountains of suitcases, shoes and combs, some of them labelled with the owner’s name, affect the participants on an emotional level. What left a particularly lasting impression was the shorn hair of the prisoners which is displayed as a seemingly endless pile.

Other aspects include the crematorium and block 11 (the death block). Traces of the prisoners can be found in the photographic portraits, in drawings, and in their belongings.

The tour of Birkenau, three kilometres away, was in stark contrast to the tour of the actual site of the main Auschwitz camp. Against the narrow alleys and the row upon row of brick barracks at Auschwitz, the expanse of Birkenau seemed even more enormous. The few wooden barracks there served only to reinforce the impression of incredible size. But traces of the prisoners can be found here too; in carvings or paintings made by the prisoners in the wooden walls of the barracks. Traces can also be found in the former personal effects stores, which were referred to in the language of the camp as “Canada” and were where the new arrivals had to surrender their worldly goods.[7]

The time in Birkenau was particularly important for the group when it came to Gerhard Richter and his series of paintings: They visited the place where the secret photographs were taken over 70 years ago and were able to gain an impression of the whole area, which lies almost peacefully within the birch trees. Information boards are a reminder of the crimes that were committed here and refer to the photographs that Gerhard Richter used in 2014 as the template for his artistic analysis. The group found that the thematic circle of the study trip closed here, if it hadn’t already.

As well as taking the tour, the members of the study group were also given insights into the art collection at the memorial. This is not part of the permanent exhibition, but can be booked separately.[8] Artworks from four different categories can be found there: legal commissioned pieces in the camp context, semi-legal pictures for private use (mostly by SS men), private and illegal works and works that were produced after the war. The memorial has thousands of objects, some of them too valuable in an idealistic and politically commemorative sense for them to be exhibited. These include works of art by professional artists and by amateurs, but also art that was created in secret and which documents the suffering of the prisoners and serves as an outlet for them. Works commissioned for the SS commanding officers and their men are also preserved. They are preserved and exhibited just like the portraits of Josef Mengele’s[9] victims that had to be drawn.[10] But it begs the question, are these objects then art? This is a question discussed by the guide and members of the group in the face of such questionable objects. But the real question is actually - by what benchmarks do we measure art? By the financial value or the type of technique used by the artist? Perhaps, as the staff member at the memorial suggests, you have to see the art objects, irrespective of what category they come from, as documents of the time?

 

[7] Cf. Israel Gutman, Michael Berenbaum: Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp, Washington D.C 1994, p. 251f.

[8] Cf. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum: Wystawa sztuki w byłej kuchni obozowej, Link: http://auschwitz.org/muzeum/zbiory-historyczne/wystawa-sztuki-w-bylej-kuchni-obozowej/, last accessed on 7/1/2020.

[9] Josef Mengele (1911-1979) was the camp doctor for the so-called gypsy camp and for the women’s camp. He was involved in the selection process and sent thousands to their death. He also carried out pseudomedical experiments on camp prisoners which frequently had fatal consequences. After the end of the Second World War, he managed to flee to South America under a pseudonym. Cf. Franz Menges: Art. Mengele, Josef, in: NDB 17 (1994), p. 69-71.

[10] More information on the types of exhibit can be found at: http://auschwitz.org/muzeum/zbiory-historyczne/sztuka/, last accessed on 7/1/2020.

Media library
  • The Reichstag building

    The Reichstag building in Berlin was the first stop on the study tour of the IBB and Porta Polonica, 2019.
  • The photographic templates for Gerhard Richter’s monumental work "Birkenau"

    The four photographic models for Gerhard Richter´s monumental picture cycle "Birkenau" are also presented in the visitor foyer of the Bundestag, but in a different corridor than the picture cycle. Ber...
  • H.D. Buchloh´s book “Gerhard Richters Birkenau-Gemälde”

    Parallel to the official opening of the exhibition of the picture cycle, the art historian Benjamin H.D. Buchloh published his book "Gerhard Richter's Birkenau-Gemälde", 2019.
  • Start of the seminar with Dr. Jacek Barski

    Dr. Jacek Barski, director of Porta Polonica, gives an introduction to the artist Gerhard Richter and his work "Birkenau", Berlin 2019.
  • In conversation with the participants

    Bartholomäus Fujak, pedagogical assistant of the IBB, in conversation with the participants of the study trip, Berlin 2019.
  • From the series of paintings entitled “Birkenau”

    One of the four large-format paintings of the cycle "Birkenau", Berlin 2019.
  • The picture cycle vertically aligned in the visitor foyer of the Reichstag building

    The picture cycle vertically aligned in the visitor foyer of the Reichstag building, Berlin 2019.
  • Participants of the study trip 

    Participants of the study trip in front of the historical photographs that served Gerhard Richter as a model for his "Birkenau" cycle, Berlin 2019.
  • The dome of the Reichstag building

    Visitors in the dome of the Reichstag building, Berlin 2019.
  • At the Jewish Center in Oświęcim

    The Centrum Żydowskie (Jewish Centre) in Oświęcim with the Chewra Lomdei Misznajot Synagogue tells about the Jewish settlement since the 16th century and the relationship of the Jewish population to t...
  • At the Jewish Center in Oświęcim

    The participants of the study trip at the Center Żydowskie (Jewish Center) in Oświęcim, 2019.
  • At the Museum of the Jewish Center in Oświęcim

    Participants of the study trip at the Museum of the Jewish Center in Oświęcim, 2019.
  • In the exhibition of the former concentration camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej

    In the exhibition of the former concentration camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej in the basement vault of the Franciscan church in Oświęcim, 2019.
  • Insights into the exhibition of the works of the former camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej

    Insights into the exhibition of the works of the former camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej, Oświęcim 2019.
  • Insights into the exhibition of the works of the former camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej

    Insights into the exhibition of the works of the former camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej, Oświęcim 2019.
  • Insights into the exhibition of the works of the former camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej

    Insights into the exhibition of the works of the former camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej, Oświęcim 2019.
  • Participants of the study trip in the exhibition of the works of the former camp prisoner Marian Kołodziej

    Participants of the study trip view the drawn portraits with the distorted, gaunt facial features of the concentration camp prisoners in the exhibition of the works of Marian Kołodziej, Oświęcim 2019.
  • "Anti-Semitism is a crime against God and humanity"

    Graffiti with Pope John Paul II in Oświęcim: "Anti-Semitism is a crime against God and humanity", Oświęcim 2019.
  • City view Oświęcim

    City view Oświęcim, 2019.
  • The gate of the Auschwitz main camp with the lettering "Arbeit macht frei" (Work makes you free)

    The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Groups of visitors enter the area through the gate of the Auschwitz main camp, Oświęcim 2019.
  • Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum

    View of the area of the main camp Auschwitz, Oświęcim 2019.
  • Brick barracks of the Auschwitz main camp

    Brick barracks of the Auschwitz main camp, 2019.
  • One of the historical photographs that Gerhard Richter used as a template

    One of the historical photographs that Gerhard Richter used as a template for his picture cycle. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum, Oświęcim 2019.
  • The historical templates for Richter's work "Birkenau"

    The historical templates for Richter's work "Birkenau" can be found in the exhibition of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2019.
  • The art collection of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum

    The art collection of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum: The exhibition includes various works of art, Oświęcim 2019.
  • The art collection of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum

    The art collection of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and State Museum: The exhibition includes various works of art, Oświęcim 2019.
  • Auschwitz II (Birkenau extermination camp)

    The area of Auschwitz II (Birkenau extermination camp), Oświęcim 2019.
  • Barracks in Auschwitz II

    Barracks with three-storey bedsteads in Auschwitz II (Birkenau extermination camp), Oświęcim 2019.
  • Carving of the imprisoned people

    Carvings or paintings of the imprisoned people can also be found in the wooden walls and bedsteads of the residential barracks in Auschwitz II, Oświęcim 2019.
  • The entrance building of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

    The entrance building of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2019.
  • View into the exhibition of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

    View into the exhibition of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Oświęcim 2019.
  • The photographic template for Richter's picture cycle at the authentic location

    The photographic template for Richter´s picture cycle is exhibited in Auschwitz-Birkenau at the authentic location with corresponding visitor information, Oświęcim 2019.
  • Kraków

    In the Old Town of Krakow, 2019.
  • Kraków

    The participants of the study trip in the Old Town of Krakow, 2019.
  • Graffiti with Hebrew script

    Graffiti with Hebrew script in Kraków, 2019
  • Kraków

    The participants of the study trip in Kraków, 2019.
  • The participants of the study trip

    The participants of the study trip, 2019.