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Drawing of a manor house with a fence by A German Jewish refugee

Object | Accession Number: 2005.546.90

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    Overview

    Brief Narrative
    Sketch of a large home in a wooded area by Willy Schwabacher. Willy obtained his doctorate degree in archeology, and in 1932, the German Archaeological Institute sent Willy to work in Turkey, Italy and Greece. In 1934, Willy was working at an excavation site in Athens and was expelled from the site in 1935 due to his Jewish heritage. Instead of returning to Germany, Willy went to Austria, where he joined the Austrian Archaeological Institute. After Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Willy moved to Britain and in 1939 he went to Copenhagen to work at the National Museum. When the Germans declared martial law in 1943, Willy fled to Sweden. He stayed in Sweden, eventually working for the National Museum. After the war he married Annemie, a survivor of Bergen Belsen concentration camp. He died in 1972 at the age of 75 in Stockholm, Sweden.
    Artwork Title
    Manor house
    Date
    creation:  1914 April 19
    Geography
    creation: Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Michael G. Rossmann
    Signature
    front, lower left corner, pencil : W. Schwabacher 19. IV. 14
    Contributor
    Artist: Willy Schwabacher
    Subject: Willy Schwabacher
    Biography
    Willy (William) Heinrich Schwabacher was born on July 22, 1897, in Frankfurt, Germany, to Heinrich, a merchant, and Anna Cahn. He had one sister, Cornelia (Nelly) who was born in 1899. The Schwabachers were a wealthy, prominent, assimilated Jewish family who had lived in Frankfurt for generations. Willy joined the German Army during World War I (1914-1918). After the war, Willy returned to school, where he obtained a doctorate in classical archeology and ancient history. He became an archeologist and a numismatic, specializing in ancient coins. He worked on excavations in Turkey, Italy, and Greece for the German Archaeological Institute. Hitler was elected Chancellor in January 1933. By spring, anti-Jewish legislation had been enacted and Jews were forbidden from participating in many areas of German life. In 1935, Willy lost his position on the excavation team because he was Jewish. He went to Austria, where he joined the Austrian Archaeological Institute. But in March 1938, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, and anti-Jewish legislation was enacted. Willy left for Great Britain, then in 1939, went to Denmark, where he worked at the National Museum in Copenhagen. In April 1940, Denmark was occupied by Germany. But it was not until August 1943, when the Danish government resigned and the Germans declared martial law, that the persecution and deportations of Jews to concentration camps began to be organized. Information about the impending round-ups leaked out and the Danish people quickly mobilized to deter the German attempts at deportations. Willy was ferried to Sweden by the Danish resistance and he eventually got a position with the National Museum as a keeper of Greek coins. After the war ended in May 1945, he married, Annemie, a German Jewish survivor of Belsen concentration camp. Willy became an internationally known archeologist who received numerous awards for his work in numismatics. He died in 1972 at the age of 75.

    Physical Details

    Classification
    Art
    Category
    Drawings
    Physical Description
    Drawing in pencil on paper depicting a 2 story house and adjacent building. A cleared area is in the foreground. The house, in the middle ground, has a mansard roof with 3 chimneys, shuttered dormer windows on the top floor, shuttered windows on the first and a ground level door. A fence borders a small gabled roof building to the house’s left and a split rail fence extends from the right. Mature trees are in the background and at each edge. The drawing is heavily shaded throughout. The artist’s signature is inscribed in the lower left corner. On the reverse is a partial sketch of a house.
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 5.250 inches (13.335 cm) | Width: 8.500 inches (21.59 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, graphite

    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 2005 by Michael G. Rossmann, the nephew of Willy Schwabacher.
    Record last modified:
    2023-07-10 10:37:12
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn518023

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