- Title: Exhibition in Krakow shows artworks by prisoners of Nazi death camp Auschwitz
- Date: 13th July 2017
- Summary: OSWIECIM, POLAND (JULY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) MAIN GATE METAL MAIN GATE WITH THE SIGN (German): "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" ("WORK SETS YOU FREE") CLOSE SIGN WITH SIGN (German): "STOP" KRAKOW, POLAND (JULY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SIGN READING (German): "WORK SETS YOU FREE" AT EXHIBITION "FACE TO FACE" IN NATIONAL MUSEUM VARIOUS OF DRAWINGS MADE BY AUSCHWITZ PRISONERS OSWIECIM, POLAND (JULY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) CURATOR OF "FACE TO FACE" EXHIBITION, AGNIESZKA SIERADZKA, SHOWING ART IN MUSEUM COLLECTION PORTRAITS OF TWO PRISONERS (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) CURATOR OF "FACE TO FACE" EXHIBITION, AGNIESZKA SIERADZKA, SAYING: "A camp prisoner was not allowed to reveal the truth about Auschwitz. It was forbidden even for the SS soldiers themselves, who could not take private photographs in the camp. It was a secret and it was to remain so. So, a prisoner documenting the reality of the camp through drawings exposed himself to very serious consequences: beatings, arrest, the penal company or even death." KRAKOW, POLAND (JULY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DRAWINGS FROM SKETCHBOOK SKETCH OF LABOUR SITE DRAWING OF PRISONERS WITH CARRYING ROLLER OSWIECIM, POLAND (JULY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ROLLER AT AUSCHWITZ MUSEUM VISITORS WALKING PAST BLOCKS VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF BLOCK 19 (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) CURATOR OF "FACE TO FACE" EXHIBITION, AGNIESZKA SIERADZKA, SAYING: "Prisoners used materials stolen from the SS offices and craft workshops that were made available to them for official works. And on them, secretly hidden from the camp authorities, they made these drawings revealing the truth about the camp." KRAKOW, POLAND (JULY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PRISONER PORTRAITS
- Embargoed: 27th July 2017 11:11
- Keywords: art works prisoners Auschwitz Nazi death camp Krakow
- Location: BRZEZINKA, OSWIECIM & KRAKOW, POLAND
- City: BRZEZINKA, OSWIECIM & KRAKOW, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Art,Arts / Culture / Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA0026PJWBAX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: A new exhibition at the National Museum in Krakow has put an extensive collection of artwork from Auschwitz death camp prisoners on display for the very first time. "Face to Face: Art in Auschwitz" features around 200 artworks, some of which have never before been seen by public eyes, marking the 70th anniversary of the Auschwitz Museum.
The sketchbook drawings, watercolour paintings and more reveal the brutal reality of camp life. Some of the pieces were commissioned by Nazi officers, depicting labour, or portraits of those who were experimented on. However other works were created in secret, with prisoners using materials they were able to take from around the death camp and keep hidden.
"Art could have been a distraction from camp reality. It could have been a rescue for the prisoner's endangered psyche. At the exhibition we also have works portraying families of people imprisoned in Auschwitz, fiances, mothers, children, works expressing dreams and longings," exhibition curator Agnieszka Sieradzka told Reuters TV.
Also being displayed is the original "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate top that was stolen and retrieved in 2009.
More than a million people, mainly European Jews, were gassed, shot or hanged at the camp, or died of neglect, starvation or disease, before the Soviet Red Army entered its gates in early 1945 during its decisive advance on Germany. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
