Red crayon sketch of 4 females in heavy scarves created postwar by a Swiss Aid nurse and rescuer
- Artwork Title
- Group of Women and Children with Scarves
- Date
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creation:
1989
depiction: 1942
- Geography
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depiction:
Rivesaltes (Concentration camp);
Rivesaltes (France)
- Language
-
English
- Classification
-
Art
- Category
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Drawings
- Object Type
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Artists' preparatory studies (lcsh)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Margot Schwarzschild Wicki
Red Conte crayon sketch created by Friedel Bohny-Reiter in 1989. It depicts a partial view of four females of varying age, with their heads wrapped in scarves, standing close together. It is based upon memories of the Rivesaltes internment camp in France where she worked from 1941-1942 as a nurse for Secours Suisse aux Enfants [Swiss Aid to Children]. She gave the drawing to Margot Schwarzschild Wicki who as a 10 year old child was interned in the camp. In 1940, Margot, her parents, Richard and Luisi,and 11 year old Hannelore, were deported to Gurs prison camp from Kaiserlautern, Germany. They were transferred to Rivesaltes and, in 1942, placed on a list of Jews to be deported to concentration camps in Poland. Friedel helped get them released. Luisi had saved a photo of her Catholic communion and she used it to prove that she was not Jewish. Men and women were housed separately and Richard was deported on September 4. Later that month, Friedel had Margot and her sister placed in a children’s home in Pringy and found a job for Luisi in another Secours Suisse home. After the war ended in May 1945, Luisi and the sisters moved to Switzerland. They learned that Richard had been killed in Auschwitz. Friedel and her husband, Alfred Bohny, were honored as Righteous among Nations by Yad Vashem for their work in rescuing hundreds of mostly Jewish children from deportation to concentration camps during the Holocaust.
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Record last modified: 2021-02-10 09:18:25
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn518761
Also in Margot Schwarzschild Wicki collection
The collection consists of artwork, documents, a notebook, photographs, and postcards relating to the experiences of Margo Schwarzschild and her family during their imprisonment in Gurs and Rivesaltes internment camps and her stay in the OSE Pringy children's home in France during the Holocaust, as well their life in the postwar period.
Margot Schwarzschild Wicki papers
Document
The Margot Schwarzschild Wicki papers contain documents and photographs relating to her family’s stay at the Gurs and Rivesaltes camps, and their eventual rescue by the Swiss Red Cross. These documents are primarily identification papers, including certificates of internment, baptism and vaccination documents, and identity cards. The material from the Schwarzschild’s time with the Swiss Red Cross includes invitations to join, correspondence, and a bound hand-book given by the children to the Elsa Ruth. The post-war documents include return visits that Margot made to Gurs, and an anniversary ceremony in Kaiserslautern, her birthplace. Also included are various photographs of the Schwarzschild family and Kaiserslautern. The Margot Schwarzschild Wicki papers contain documents and photographs from her family’s time in Gurs and Rivesaltes internment camps, and their subsequent stay with the Swiss Red Cross. Other material in this collection include items from Margot’s return visit to Kaiserslautern and Gurs decades later. The official documents are primarily for identification and verification purposes, including certificates of internment, baptism and vaccination papers, and identification cards. The baptism certificate was awarded after convincing authorities that Luisi, Margot and Hannelore were Catholic, thus sparing them from deportation to Auschwitz. The documents pertaining to the Schwarzschild’s time with the Swiss Red Cross include correspondence received from both Margot’s paternal and maternal grandmothers, and Simon Salzmann, who lived with Margot during the war. Other items include mission orders for Luisi, the invitation for the children to return to school in Pringy, and a hand-bound notebook created by the schoolchildren at Pringy, and given to their Director Elsa Ruth for her birthday. Also included is a song card, which has the lyrics to one of the many songs the children sang while at school. The post-war documents include copy prints for art drawn by Freidel Reiter (Bohny) and inspired by the sights she saw at Gurs internment camp. Other material are documents relating to a commemoration in 2000 of the anniversary of the deportation of Jews from Kaiserslautern, and photos from the Gurs memorial that was erected after the war. A letter recommending Friedel Bohny-Reiter and August Bohny for inclusion to Yad Vashem’s Righteous Among the Nations. The photographs include portraits of the Schwarzschild family, and of Kaiserslautern before the war. Of particular note is the photographs of Luisi’s first communion, which was crucial in convincing authorities at Gur that her family was not Jewish and escaping deportation to Auschwitz.
Etching of a sad young boy in an internment camp created postwar by a Swiss Aid nurse/rescuer
Object
Sepia ink etched print of a melancholy young boy created by Friedel Bohny-Reiter circa 1989. It is based upon memories of the Rivesaltes internment camp in France where she worked from 1941-1942 as a nurse for Secours Suisse aux Enfants [Swiss Aid to Children]. She gave the drawing to Margot Schwarzschild Wicki who as a 10 year old child was interned in the camp. In 1940, Margot, her parents, Richard and Luisi, and Hannelore, 11, were deported to Gurs prison camp from Kaiserlautern, Germany. They were transferred to Rivesaltes and, in 1942, placed on a list of Jews to be deported to concentration camps in Poland. Friedel helped get them released. Luisi had saved a photo of her Catholic communion and she used it to prove that she was not Jewish. Men and women were housed apart and Richard was deported on September 4 to Auschwitz and killed. Later that month, Friedel had Margot and her sister placed in a children’s home in Pringy and found a job for Luisi in another Secours Suisse home. After the war ended in May 1945, Luisi and her daughters moved to Switzerland. Friedel and her husband, Alfred Bohny, were honored as Righteous among Nations by Yad Vashem for their work in rescuing hundreds of mostly Jewish children from deportation to concentration camps.
Pencil sketch of a young boy with haunted eyes created postwar by a Swiss Aid nurse and rescuer
Object
Pencil and ink sketch of a young boy with large, dark, despairing eyes created by Friedel Bohny-Reiter in 1989. It is labelled draft and resembles her etching, 2006.464.2. It is based upon memories of the Rivesaltes internment camp in France where she worked from 1941-1942 as a nurse for Secours Suisse aux Enfants [Swiss Aid to Children]. She gave the drawing to Margot Schwarzschild Wicki who as a 10 year old child was interned in the camp. In 1940, Margot, her parents, Richard and Luisi,and 11 year old Hannelore, were deported to Gurs prison camp from Kaiserlautern, Germany. They were transferred to Rivesaltes and, in 1942, placed on a list of Jews to be deported to concentration camps in Poland. Friedel helped get them released. Luisi had saved a photo of her Catholic communion and she used it to prove that she was not Jewish. Men and women were housed separately and Richard was deported on September 4. Later that month, Friedel had Margot and her sister placed in a children’s home in Pringy and found a job for Luisi in another Secours Suisse home. After the war ended in May 1945, Luisi and the sisters moved to Switzerland. They learned that Richard had been killed in Auschwitz. Friedel and her husband, Alfred Bohny, were honored as Righteous among Nations by Yad Vashem for their work in rescuing hundreds of mostly Jewish children from deportation to concentration camps during the Holocaust.