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Poster stamps containing pro-Zionist theme

Object | Accession Number: 1994.88.1

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    Overview

    Title
    There Were 4 Sons; A Modern Version of the Famous Parable from the Hagaddah
    Date
    publication/distribution:  approximately 1945-1948
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Dawn Petersen
    Contributor
    Author: American League for a Free Palestine, Inc.
    Artist: Arthur Szyk
    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.

    Physical Details

    Language
    English Hebrew
    Classification
    Posters
    Object Type
    Poster stamps (lcsh)
    Physical Description
    booklet form with text preceding four perforated pages; there are ten stamps per page, each page being a different color; stamp is photograph of helmeted man with inscription "FOR A FREE PALESTINE/THE WISE SON [signed] Arthur Szyk/ N.Y.45/Smart [in Hebrew]/AMERICAN LEAGUE/For Free Palestine Inc., N.Y., USA."
    Hebrew transliterated "Chacham"
    Dimensions
    overall: Height: 8.270 inches (21.006 cm) | Width: 3.540 inches (8.992 cm)
    Materials
    overall : paper, ink, adhesive

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    No restrictions on access

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    The poster stamp was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1994 by Dawn Petersen.
    Record last modified:
    2023-05-22 12:24:50
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn8882

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