1. THEY SHALL BE COUNTED:  THE THERESIENSTADT GHETTO ART OF ERICH LICHTBLAU-LESKLY
November 17, 2019 – October 18, 2020

2. Outline Exhibition overview Erich Lichtblau-Leskly Biography
Theresienstadt Background
Friedl Dicker-Brandeis
Karkomi Connections
Examine paintings
Field Trip Logistics
Adult Tour Logistics
Questions

3. Exhibition Overview
Paintings and drawings of Erich Lichtblau- Leskly from Theresienstadt during
Shows scenes of daily life and existence in Theresienstadt
Erich destroyed his artwork, but his wife, Elsa, hid them
Exhibition contains fragments, restored images from Czechoslovakia in the 1950s, and recreations from Israel in 1970s and 1980s

4. Erich Lichtblau-Leskly
Born in 1911 in Czechoslovakia (then Austria-Hungary)
Worked as a commercial designer
Married wife Elsa in 1937
After German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Erich and Elsa moved to Prague and Erich worked as a construction worker
Received transport orders and arrived in Theresienstadt on November 26, 1942

5. Life in Theresienstadt
Erich worked in the construction yard – protected position
Elsa worked cleaning homes and in the kitchen
Erich later assigned to graphic and reproduction workshop and the technical department, where he worked on design projects for the ghetto theaters
His later work as a graphic artist allowed him access to art materials: paper, pens, watercolors, pencils
His work documents prisoner interactions, personal encounters, and stories from ghetto folklore
“For me not to paint would be not to live.”
Painting was a means of survival and spiritual resistance.

6. The Painters’ Affair Spring of 1944
Gestapo discovered the paintings of the “Painters’ Circle” – Leo Haas, Otto Ungar, Bedrich Fritta, and Felix Bloch
Why were they arrested?
Fearing for his life, Erich destroyed all of his artwork and cut off all of the offensive captions
Elsa hid them under the floorboards, and they survived the war

7. Why is his work important?
Traces of Jewish life were wiped out during the Holocaust, Erich’s work leaves us a record
Show dehumanizing and brutal realities of Theresienstadt
Contradicts propaganda idea of “spa town” or “model ghetto”
Example of spiritual and cultural resistance – way to exert control in a small way
Perseverance of human spirit and human dignity
Preserve one’s identity

8. What do you already know about Theresienstadt?

9. Theresienstadt vs. Terezin
Theresienstadt = German name
Terezin = Czech name
Curator uses Theresienstadt in the show, so use Theresienstadt for consistency
Teachable moment to explain the difference to audience if you use both names

10. Theresienstadt
Theresienstadt was a concentration camp/ghetto that existed for 3.5 years (November 24, 1941 – May 9, 1945)
Transit camp for Czech Jews whom were deported to killing centers, concentration camps, and forced-labor camps
Ghetto-labor camp/holding pen for certain categories of German, Austrian, and Czech Jews (elderly, veterans, wealthy, artists or other cultural figures)
Important propaganda tool for the Nazis – “spa town”

11. Theresienstadt
October 1942 – approximately 46,750 Jews were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 27 transports. It is estimated that about 3,450 survived. (USHMM)
About 15,000 children passed through Theresienstadt, and about 90% of them perished in killing centers.
Of the ~140,000 people transported there, ~90,000 people left Theresienstadt on a transport east and roughly 33,000 died in Theresienstadt itself.
Around 30,000 prisoners are in Theresienstadt when the Soviets liberate the camp in 1945.
*Statistics from USHMM website

12. Cultural Life
Large number of musicians, composers, writers, artists, and conductors
Nazis allowed prisoners to perform concerts, operas, theater production; there was a ghetto library
Theresienstadt was the only concentration camp in which religious life was practiced more or less undisturbed
Children’s paintings

13. Friedl Dicker-Brandeis
Born in Vienna in 1898
Trained in Bauhaus
Deported to Theresienstadt with her husband in 1942
Started lessons for children
Provided training in the fundamentals of art, studies of everyday objects, imaginative drawings, complex still lives
Encouraged students to reveal their feelings through their artwork
Doing art therapy in the guise of art lessons
Deported to Auschwitz on October 6, 1944 and died in Birkenau
Theresienstadt children created about 5,000 drawings and collages, each signed with their names and ages

14. Connection to Erich?
A way to remember the individuals who were in Theresienstadt and have a record of their time and life.
Painting was a means of survival for the children, too.
Form of spiritual resistance, allowing them to keep their humanity in times of inhumanity.

15. Red Cross Visit “Model Ghetto” introduced by Nazi propagandists
Danish King requested visit from Red Cross in June 1944 to assess of the living conditions since rumors were circulating of Jews being murdered in gas chambers.
To squash these rumors, the Nazis invited the Red Cross to visit.
Beautification process began.
7,500 people were transported east to make the ghetto seem less crowded and to get rid of the sick, elderly, and orphans.
Red Cross took a 6 hour tour along a carefully planned route, and reported back favorably.
Propaganda film created – most of cast was deported to Auschwitz after and film never shown before the war ended

16. “For instance, when the guests visited the bank, the [Jewish] bank manager on receiving them extinguished a fat cigar in an ashtray, reached for his cigarette case and offered them cigarettes. What he did not tell them was that some months before their visit he had been arrested for illicit smoking and spent three months in prison for this crime. All along the route orderlies, well out of view, ran ahead of the commission and started off various embellishment devices as one starts off a jukebox by dropping a penny in the first slot. Thus some handsome girls working in the fields outside Theresienstadt shouldered their rakes at the appropriate moment and marched signing along the road; bakers in white overalls and white gloves started loading loaves of bread; it was [to appear] a mere coincidence that they did it just when the honored guests appeared.” - From the memoir of Theresienstadt survivor, Zdenek Lederer

17. Karkomi Connections

18. Deception Gallery Examples of paper money Coffee house tickets
Adolf Wolff’s “resettlement to the East” document

19. Paintings What can we expect to see?
Dualities of fear and hope, horror and privilege, ugliness and beauty
Themes of resistance, humanity, choice
Ironic, cartoon style – not caricatures
Dark humor

20. Prague is Free of Jews

21. My First Night in the Ghetto: Overcrowded

22. In Beit Halutzot (Hamburg Barracks), Room 305

23. Silent Night in the Hannover Barrack

24. Transport Worries

25. Thou Shall Not Build in the Diaspora

26. Back From Delousing - Only a Crazy Person Pays with Ghetto Money
Obligatory Salute and Forbidden Cigarettes

27. Risky Apple – Organizing
“Organizing” and Stealing Are Not the Same

28. Additional Rations for Heavy-Duty Laborers Only
A Cardigan for Half a Loaf of Bread

29. Three Kings in the Ghetto: Baker, Cook, and Pastry Baker

30. Smuggling Flowers into the Ghetto
A Good Match in the Ghetto

31. Arrival of Danish Jews at Terezin Spa

32. Head Count: Thou Shall Be Counted

33. The Permit Stamp is Here, But Few Receive Packages

34. Prisoner Disease

35. Crooner of Theresienstadt

36. House Arrest for the Old and Infirm

37. Death Rate: 150 Daily

38. The Six Friends

39. Field Trip Logistics Introduction to exhibit with entire group
Ask students what they know about life in the ghettos in occupied- Europe.
Provide overview of Theresienstadt (use large text panel).
Explain why there are two sets of each painting.

40. Field Trip Logistics Think/pair/share
Divide your group into pairs or trios (depending on group size). Have each pair or trio take one pair of images. Ask them:
What do you see in the artwork? What is happening?
What is the subject of the image? Who are the people in the image? How do you know? What are they doing?
What does the image suggest about resistance or response to what was happening inside the ghetto?
What do you think Leskly’s motivation was in creating his artwork? What is the purpose of the artwork?
Where did the artist put the main element? How does your eye move from place to place in the image?
What feeling do the colors suggest? Why do you think he made that choice?
Ask each question one at a time, giving them 30 seconds to think about each one and examine the artwork.
They should spend the next 2-3 minutes discussing the answers to those questions with their partner(s).
Have each pair share their reflections on the above questions with the larger group. Note: You may need to repeat questions and answers from students to larger group.
Have the pairs rotate to another pair of images, and ask the same questions. Have them repeat the above – thinking, pairing, sharing.
Reflect as big group (more to be discussed at the end)

41. Adult Group Tours Introduction to exhibit with entire group:
Provide overview of Theresienstadt (use large text panel). Key points:
Explain why there are two sets of each painting.
Comparison to Lodz ghetto/Memory Unearthed
Henryk Ross vs. Erich Lichtblau-Leskly
How did the goals of Henryk Ross compare and differ to those of Leskly?
Lodz Ghetto vs. Theresienstadt
How did they compare? Differ?
Photography vs. paintings
How does the medium affect the way you view each ghetto (photographs vs. paintings)?
Tour themes: Dualities, Resistance, Upstander, choice using specific artworks

42. What do you think Leskly accomplished with his artwork?
What can we learn about life inside the Theresienstadt ghetto from these images?
Do you think Leskly was brave to create these images? Why or why not?

43. How is social media being used to show us what life is like inside places of war and conflict today?
Are there benefits to having these images out in the world, and what are they if so? What are the dangers?