Overview
- Brief Narrative
- Print of an Arthur Szyk drawing of a vengeful Jewish soldier posing behind murdered or imprisoned Jews, including a dying rabbi holding a Torah scroll, a mother holding her murdered child, and a man holding out his manacled hands. It is one of a set of four lithographs of Szyk drawings reproduced and distributed by the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Inc. The committtee was formed in July 1943 and Szyk was one of the original members of the executive board.
- Date
-
publication/distribution:
1944
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Richard Tesler
- Signature
- lower right, recto
- Contributor
-
Artist:
Arthur Szyk
Subject: Arthur Szyk
Distributor: Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Inc.
- Biography
-
Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was born to Jewish parents, Solomon and Eugenia Szyk in Łódź, Poland, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. He had his first public art exhibition at age 15, and then went to Paris, France, for formal art training at the Academie Julian. He visited Palestine in 1914 with a group of Polish-Jewish artists and studied Muslim art. Upon his return, he was conscripted into the Russian Army and served in World War I. He married Julia Liekerman in 1916, and they had a son, George, in 1917. In 1918, Poland regained independence, but continued to fight a series of regional wars to secure its boundaries. Between 1919 and 1920, during Poland's war against the Soviet Bolsheviks, Syzk served as a cavalry officer and artistic director of the Department of Propaganda for the Polish Army in Łódź. In 1921, he and his family moved to Paris where his daughter, Alexandra was born the following year.
Szyk was well known for his illuminations and book illustrations, in a style reminiscent of Persian miniatures. He worked on several significant projects in France, including illustrating the Statute of Kalisz, the Haggadah, and a series of watercolors on the American Revolutionary War. The themes of his most admired works, democracy and Judaism, were already well established, earning him both fame and significant commissions. In 1934, Szyk traveled to the United States for exhibitions of his work and to receive the George Washington Bicentennial Medal, awarded by the US Congress. He resided in England from 1937-1940 to supervise the publication of the Haggadah. In 1939, following Germany's invasion of Poland, he focused on producing anti-Nazi editorial cartoons published in many Western newspapers and magazines. During the German occupation of Poland, his 70 year old mother, Eugenia, and her Polish companion were forced to live in the Łódź ghetto. In 1943, they were transported to Majdanek concentration camp and killed.
In late 1940, Szyk immigrated to the United States with his family. He became a leading anti-Fascist political caricaturist as well as an advocate for Jewish rescue. In addition to his widely published satirical art, Szyk devoted a great deal of time and energy to the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, and pushed for the establishment of an independent Jewish state in Palestine. Szyk received his US citizenship in 1948. In 1951, he was investigated by the United States House Un-American Activities Committee as a suspected Communist. His son, speaking on his behalf, declared his non-affiliation with any Communist organization. Later that year, on September 13, Szyk suffered a heart attack and died at age 57.
The Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe was founded in 1943, by Peter Bergson and other young Jewish activists. The Committee formed in reaction to the first verified information of the Holocaust that reached the United States. On July 20, 1943, the group held the Emergency Conference in New York City, bringing together 1,500 delegates. The Committee was replaced by the American League for a Free Palestine in 1945.
Physical Details
- Classification
-
Art
- Category
-
Prints
- Object Type
-
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in art (lcsh)
- Physical Description
- Print, black ink on paper, depicting a vengeful Jewish soldier posing behind murdered or imprisoned Jews, including a dying rabbi holding a Torah scroll, a mother holding her murdered child, and a man holding out his manacled hands. Signed Arthur Szyk, dated 1944, N.Y.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) | Width: 8.000 inches (20.32 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
Keywords & Subjects
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The print was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by Richard Tesler.
- 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:
- 2023-08-24 15:15:30
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn549474
Download & Licensing
In-Person Research
- By Appointment
- Request 21 Days in Advance of Visit
- Plan a Research Visit
- Request to See This Object
Contact Us
Also in Arthur Szyk and the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Inc. collection
The collection consists of a set of four lithograph reproductions of Arthur Szyk drawings created and distributed by the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Inc., in 1944.
Date: 1944
Arthur Szyk print of Jewish soldiers
Object
Print of an Arthur Szyk drawing of Jewish soldiers and partisans posing with the figure of Moses. It is one of a set of four lithographs of Szyk drawings reproduced and distributed by the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Inc. The committtee was formed in July 1943 and Szyk was one of the original members of the executive board.
Arthur Szyk print of two Jewish children threatened by Nazis
Object
Print of an Arthur Szyk drawing of two Jewish children threatened by several Nazis. It is one of a set of four lithographs of Szyk drawings reproduced and distributed by the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Inc. The committtee was formed in July 1943 and Szyk was one of the original members of the executive board.
Arthur Szyk print of a Jewish family with a Torah scroll
Object
Print of an Arthur Szyk drawing of a traditional Jewish family posing with a Torah scroll. It is one of a set of four lithographs of Szyk drawings reproduced and distributed by the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Inc. The committtee was formed in July 1943 and Szyk was one of the original members of the executive board.
Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe letter
Document
Contains a letter, with envelope, sent by Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe to Dr. Helen Tessler.