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Drawing of a seated inmate in an overcoat by Nikolaj Pirnat acquired by John Bolé

Object | Accession Number: 2011.174.5

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    Drawing of a seated inmate in an overcoat by Nikolaj Pirnat acquired by John Bolé

    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Double-sided portrait of a concentration camp prisoner by Nikolaj Pirnat acquired by John (previously Ivan Johann) Bolé. Pirnat was a Slovenian artist imprisoned at Gonars concentration camp in Italy from 1942-1943. John was imprisoned as a Yugoslavian political prisoner at Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, from November 1944 to April 1945. It is unclear when or how he acquired the drawings. John, a Catholic, was a lawyer in Laibach, Yugoslavia (Ljubljana, Slovenia) when the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, invaded in April 1941. Laibach was annexed by Italy. John went to Venice with the Slovenian Red Cross. In September 1944, he was arrested by the German SS for smuggling a radio transmitter into Trieste. In November, John was sent to Buchenwald in Germany and assigned prisoner number 67186. He was assigned to work commando A6 in Wanz-leben am See. The camp was liberated on April 11, 1945, by US troops. Germany surrendered on May 7. John lived as a displaced person in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and immigrated to America in 1950.
    Date
    creation:  1942
    Geography
    depiction: Gonàrs (Italy)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Lorraine DeMaio
    Signature
    front, upper right, cursive, black ink : N. Pirnat 42. / c. 89.
    Contributor
    Subject: John J. Bolé
    Subject: Nikolaj Pirnat
    Artist: Nikolaj Pirnat
    Biography
    John (previously Ivan Johann, 1916-1978) Bolé was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to Catholic parents, Ivan and Danica Strekelj Bolé. The family moved to Laibach, Yugoslavia (Ljubljana, Slovenia). Danica died on November 14, 1929, in Laibach. John completed five years of university education. He received his diploma from the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Law, in January 1941 and became an attorney. He spoke Czech, Slovenian, German, Italian, French, and Serbo-Croatian.

    On April 6, 1941, the Axis powers, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria, invaded and divided Yugoslavia. Laibach was in the area occupied and annexed by Italy. John went to Venice, Italy, with the Slovenian Red Cross. On September 19, 1944, he was caught attempting to smuggle a radio transmitter across the border and was arrested by the German SS security force in Trieste. John was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, arriving on November 19. He was designated a political prisoner, assigned prisoner number 67186, and housed in Block 17. He was assigned to work commando A6 in Wanz-leben am See. Buchenwald was liberated on April 11, 1945, by American forces. The war ended when Germany surrendered on May 7.

    In June 1945, John was repatriated from Mittenwald displaced person camp to a DP camp in Rome, Italy. In 1946, he was employed by the Allied Military Government as a school director in the Gorizia region of Italy, near the Slovenian border. In fall 1948, John was living in Bagnoli DP camp near Naples, run by the IRO [International Refugee Organization.] On January 16, 1950, John left for the United States, sailing from Bremerhaven, Germany, on the General JH McRae, and arriving in New York on January 26. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1955 and changed his name to John. He went on to have a successful career in international banking. He married Martina, nee Kosuchowski, on May 4, 1957, and they had a son, Michael, and a daughter, Lorraine.
    Nikolaj Pirnat (1903-1948) was born in Idrija, Austria-Hungary (now Idrija, Slovenia). He attended the Academy of Zagreb, and studied in Paris, France in 1927. He was a painter and sculptor, and supported the social realism movement in Slovenian fine arts. His works were exhibited in Laibach, Yugoslavia (now Ljubljana, Slovenia) during the late 1920s and 1930s.

    On April 6, 1941, the Axis powers, Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria, invaded and divided Yugoslavia. The area where Nikolaj lived was occupied and annexed by Italy. In 1942, Nikolaj was arrested and imprisoned in Gonars concentration camp, north of Venice, Italy. While he was held at the camp, he used his artistic skill to secure access to some art materials and established a Slovene painting school for the other inmates. After Italy joined the Allied Forces in 1943, the prisoners were able to leave the camp, and Nikolaj produced propaganda for the partisans. Some of his drawings of camp life are among those works that survive and are held by a number of Slovenian Museums.

    Physical Details

    Classification
    Art
    Category
    Drawings
    Genre/Form
    Drawings.
    Physical Description
    Realistic portrait in black ink on light brown paper depicting a man with a downturned head and solemn expression seated on a wooden barrack bed. He is wearing a heavy overcoat, pants, and worn boots. His hands are clasped in his lap. Above and to his left is a top bunk with blankets hanging off the edge. The artist’s signature and date are at the top right. On the back is a sketch of the same man, head and upper arms only. The paper is stained and discolored.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 10.625 inches (26.988 cm) | Width: 7.750 inches (19.685 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, ink

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2011 by Lorraine DeMaio, the daughter of John Bolé.
    Funding Note
    The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2023-12-08 13:30:40
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn44121

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