Classroom activity: Art and the Holocaust

Classroom activity:
Art and the Holocaust
This resource is aimed at secondary school students, aged 11-18 and is designed to
be used in the run up to Holocaust Memorial Day, on 27 January. It will introduce
your students to the Holocaust through art, and to encourage them to enter the
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s art competition, ‘Drawing Inspiration’. This
classroom activity can be a starting point for a greater scheme of work on the
Holocaust (and subsequent genocides) or can stand alone.
Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January, is the day for everyone to remember the
millions of people killed in the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and in subsequent
genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. 27 January marks the
liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
This activity has several sections, each one designed to stand alone but all will
complement each other. These sections will cover:
1) Art banned by the Nazis
2) Art created during the Holocaust
3) Art looted by the Nazis
4) Art created after the Holocaust.
Whichever section(s) you use, please see the ‘what next’ section at the end.
1) Art banned by the Nazis

Split your students into groups and give each group access to the following 8
paintings (either by displaying them on a whiteboard/screen, or by printing off
copies).

Ask the groups to try to determine which of these paintings was banned by
the Nazis – and why.

Each group should then present to the others the paintings they think were
banned. Discuss any similarities and differences between the groups’
choices.

Why do they think the artwork was banned? Can they come up with any
reasons?

Now reveal to the students which paintings were banned, and why. Does
their opinion of the piece of artwork change once they know why it was
banned?
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1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
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6)
7)
8)
“Degenerate art” was the term given by the Nazis to any piece of artwork that
did not fit their ideal. Artwork that was classed as degenerate art was often
abstract, or expressionistic, as Hitler particularly did not like modern art.
Artwork by Jewish artists was often deemed degenerate art too. In 1937, the
Nazi party held an art exhibition in Munich to highlight art considered
degenerate. Hitler, who was himself an artist, preferred realistic artworks, yet
abstract and modern styles were considered more popular at the time; hosting
a degenerate art exhibition was an opportunity to mock modern art. Some of
the artwork was later burned by the Nazis.
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Did your students realise which paintings were “degenerate”? Does it change their
opinion of the artwork?
1)
‘Self Portrait with Felt Hat’, Vincent Van Gogh (Dutch,
1853-1890) – as an inspiration for the expressionism movement, his art was
considered degenerate.
2) ‘Oriental pleasure garden’, Paul Klee (German-Swiss,
1879-1940) – 17 of his pictures were included in the degenerate art
exhibition: his art was influenced by expressionism, cubism and surrealism; all
three movements were condemned by the Nazis as degenerate.
3) ‘Improvisation 3’, Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944) –
his art was considered degenerate because it was abstract; three of his
Compositions were displayed in the degenerate art exhibition.
4) ‘Walchensee’ (the name of a lake in GermanY), Lovis
Corinth (German, 1858-1925) – all art painted after he had a stroke
(including the picture above) was considered degenerate.
5) ‘The Artist and his family’, Lovis Corinth (German, 18581925) – this was painted before his stroke and so was not considered
degenerate art.
6) ‘Czardar dancers’, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (German 18801938) – an expressionist artist, over 600 of his works were destroyed or sold
in 1937, as his art was deemed degenerate.
7) ‘Hunter in the dunes’, Max Liebermann (German, 1847-1935)
– He resigned from his position as president of the Prussian Academy of Arts
when they stopped exhibiting Jewish artists. His art was banned and
considered degenerate by the Nazis because he was Jewish.
8) ‘Mona Lisa’, Leonardo Da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519) – this
classical painting would not have been considered degenerate by the Nazis.
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2) Art created during the Holocaust
Show your students the two different sets of artwork below. What are their initial
thoughts and reactions? Do they know who might have created it and why?
Ask your students to think about who created art in the Holocaust. Why would people
use art, what did they hope to achieve?
Explain that these paintings were all painted by people who were persecuted during
the Holocaust, and who documented their experiences.
Is this artwork what they were expecting from those persecuted in the Holocaust?
These represent two very different responses to the persecution. Why do your
students think that is the case?
The first three paintings were painted by Charlotte Salomon.
Charlotte was born in Berlin in 1917. In January 1939 she went to live in France. In
1940, she was interned together with her grandfather at Gurs camp. After a few
months they were released and Charlotte began painting a collection, entitled ‘Life?
Or Theatre?’ from which these pictures are taken. In 1943, Charlotte married
Alexander Nagler and a few months later they were taken, first to Drancy camp and
then on to Auschwitz. Charlotte, who was four months pregnant, was probably
murdered on arrival. Her husband died shortly after.
For more information on Charlotte and the images please see the Jewish Historical
Museum’s website: http://www.jhm.nl/collection/specials/charlotte-salomon
Collection Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam. © Charlotte Salomon Foundation.
Charlotte Salomon®
These second three images are just some of those created surreptitiously by some
of the 15,000 children imprisoned in the concentration camp at Terezín, also known
as Theresienstadt, just outside of Prague.
The children painted their life and experiences in the camp but also they painted
their hopes and dreams. The children were all taken to Auschwitz concentration
camp. Fewer than 100 survived.
For more information on the Terezín Children’s Art Collection, please see the
website of the Jewish Museum in Prague:
http://www.jewishmuseum.cz/
© The Jewish Museum Prague


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Does knowing this change your perception or opinion of the paintings?
What do these paintings tell us about the experiences people went through in
the Holocaust?
Do these paintings leave us with more questions about the Holocaust?
If so, what are these questions and how could we go about answering them?
Your students may have questions about the Holocaust as a result of the paintings.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has lesson plans and assemblies which may
answer these questions. You can find these here: hmd.org.uk/year/education/2014
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Collection Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam. ©
Charlotte Salomon Foundation.
Charlotte Salomon®
Margit Koretzová, 8.4.1933 – 4.10.1944
© The Jewish Museum Prague
© The Jewish Museum Prague
Ruth Schächterová, 24.8.1930 – 18.5.1944
Anita Spitzová,6.1.1933 – 4.10.1944
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3) Art looted by the Nazis
By deeming artwork “degenerate” (see section 1, above), the Nazis were able
to take certain pieces of art from museums and galleries and sell them abroad
for foreign currency. Additionally, they stole artwork – or forcibly bought it at
a lower-than-market price – from individuals, primarily Jewish collectors, as
part of the Nazi persecution of the Jews and the seizure of all their properties.
These paintings might enter the private art collections of Hitler and other Nazi
leaders, or be sold on the international art market.
Many of the stolen artworks were sold on, to museums, galleries and
individuals, making it hard for those whose art work was stolen to find it, and
to claim it back.
Discuss with your students the dilemma about looted art – who does it belong to?
Possible options are:
 The artist
 The person who bought it last – whether or not they knew it was looted
 The person who owned it before it was stolen
Role play: Split the class into pairs and give each pair one of the two cards. In each
pair, one person owns a painting and the other person is looking to acquire it.
Do not let the students see each other’s cards. They need to role play to resolve the
situation, keeping in mind the key questions…Who does the art belong to? Who
should it belong to?
The groups can be duplicated, or alternatively, students can be arranged in small
groups rather than pairs.
Optional extras:
 SUITABLE FOR OLDER STUDENTS: Add a third person to each pair. The
third person in each scenario is searching for the truth (either a newspaper or
investigator). What do they add to the dilemma?

Have a class discussion to decide ‘who owns art?’. Ask for volunteers to
share what they decided and how they resolved tricky issues?
The Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act’ was passed in England and
Scotland in 2009, giving national museums and galleries the power to return
art in their possession that had been stolen by the Nazis. Previously these
institutions had been legally unable to return looted art, but could offer a
payment to the former owners of the artwork.
Welsh and Northern Irish museums and galleries were already able to return
artwork to their owners.
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You may like to use this case study to inspire your students while they do the role
play above, or you may like to share this case study afterwards, as a specific
example of looted art.
With thanks to the Commission for Looted Art in Europe for sharing this case study.
The Rosauer Collection
On 12 March 1938 the Nazis took power in Austria. The three unmarried Rosauer
sisters were then in their late 70s and had led quiet lives in Vienna, surrounded by
family and friends. They lived together in a spacious apartment, the walls of which
were hung with 170 wonderful paintings, collected by the family.
After the Nazi takeover, their lives changed forever. In June 1938 they, like all Jews,
were required to complete Asset Registrations, listing everything they owned, as a
prelude to its seizure. In November they were forced to move to a much smaller
apartment and were moved again to an even smaller one in March 1942. In January
1940, the eldest sister, Malvine died in Vienna at the age of 80. On 10 September
1942, the other two sisters, Jenny and Berta, then aged 80 and 78 respectively, were
deported on Transport IV/10 to the concentration camp of Theresienstadt and from
there, on 29 September, to the extermination camp at Treblinka where they were
murdered.
For decades their surviving family searched unsuccessfully for the seized
paintings. Their great-nephew Rudi Epstein, who had lost his parents and all his
relatives, always dreamt that one day, for the sake of his aunts and lost family, it
would be possible to recover the missing paintings. When he died, he bequeathed
the missing collection to his great-niece, who kept his dream alive.
In 2006, the Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE) was asked to help find the
lost paintings. In October 2010, as a result of its research, the very first of the
Rosauer paintings was returned to the family.
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Portrait of a young woman in white
holding a music book in her hands in a
landscape by Johann Baptist Lampi the
Elder had been sold from Vienna in 1938
to Hitler’s art dealer, Julius Böhler of
Munich, who sold it in 1940 to another of
Hitler’s dealers, Karl Haberstock, who in
turn sold it to Hitler’s Linz Collection in
April 1941. CLAE recovered the painting
from the German government which had
possession of it for over 60 years.
The family wrote that it was a very
emotional moment; that it felt as if it
was a homecoming. They said that
their Uncle Rudi would have wept with
joy.
On 6 April 2011, further work by CLAE
led to a second painting, Portrait of a
young woman with a drawing instrument
by Dresden painter Carl Christian Vogel
von Vogelstein (1788-68) being returned
to the family.
This painting had hung in Dresden’s famous
Gemäldegalerie since 1940. It had been
acquired from the Nazis in Vienna by Hans
Posse, Director of the Gemäldegalerie and head
of Hitler’s Special Commission Linz, who was
tasked with collecting works for Hitler’s planned
museum in Linz, Austria. It too had been sold to
Posse by Hitler’s dealer, Julius Böhler of
Munich, who had acquired it in 1938 in Vienna.
The Rosauer sisters suffered a terrible fate, and
virtually every trace of them was erased by the
Nazis. These first restitutions of the sisters’
paintings have restored a precious family link so
brutally broken almost 70 years ago.
© Commission for Looted Art in Europe 2013
http://www.lootedartcommission.com/
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Group One:
Optional third player:
You are an art dealer.
You are an art collector.
You own a painting that
that you know was
stolen by the Nazis.
You are trying to buy a
masterpiece painting
you think was stolen by
the Nazis. This piece
would add value to your
collection but you are
reluctant to purchase it
if it is suspect.
You don’t think there is
anything wrong with
this as you bought it
from a museum legally.
You are a private
investigator.
You have been asked by
a family to find out what
happened to their art
collection; they know it
was stolen by the Nazis
but don’t know where it
is now.
Group Two:
You are the grandchild
of a Holocaust survivor.
You are an auction
house.
You know that your
grandparents had art
work that was stolen by
the Nazis. You don’t
know where it is now
but you want to get it
back.
You are in possession of
lots of artwork that you
would like to sell. You
do not know anything
about its history and
you just want to sell it
for a high price.
You are a lawyer.
You represent the
person who is trying to
acquire the art. How
can you help them find
out if the artwork is
theirs and, if it is, get
the artwork back?
Group Three:
You are an individual.
You have been given a
painting by your uncle.
Someone claims that it
is theirs and that it was
stolen by the Nazis. You
think it belongs to you,
because your uncle gave
it to you as a gift.
You are a grandchild of
a Holocaust survivor.
You know your
grandparents had to sell
their art at a belowmarket price to the
Nazis. You would like to
get this art back.
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You are a researcher.
You have to prove who
a piece of artwork
belongs to.
How would you go
about doing this?
Group Four:
You are museum.
You are a gallery.
You have been offered
some amazing art work
at a very cheap price;
you suspect that it was
stolen by the Nazis and
you don’t want to buy it
if it was bought illegally.
You are concerned that
some of your artwork
may have been stolen
by the Nazis. Even
though you bought it
legally, you wish to sell
it as quickly as possible.
You are a national
newspaper.
You have uncovered a
network of artwork
stolen by the Nazis, now
being displayed in
national galleries. You
want to expose the
story.
Group Five:
You represent a group
of Holocaust survivors
and their descendants.
The group that you
represent believes that
art stolen from
themselves is now
hanging in a gallery and
they want it back.
You are an art gallery.
A group of Holocaust
survivors believe that
art in your gallery
belongs to them. You
bought the art legally so
are reluctant to give it
to them.
You are the UK
government.
You have been
approached by a UK art
gallery which does not
want to return art to
Holocaust survivors.
They want you to advise
them.
Group Six:
You are an individual.
You purchased a
painting at a car boot
sale and you are now
selling it on an art
trading website. You
don’t know who the
artwork belonged to
before.
You are an art trading
website.
You have been
approached by a
researcher claiming that
art work on your site
was stolen by the Nazis.
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You are a researcher.
You think that you have
found some artwork
stolen by the Nazis on a
major art trading
website.
4) Art created after the Holocaust

Ask your students if they think it is ok for people other than Holocaust
survivors to create art commemorating or about the Holocaust.
Why/why not?
An exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in 2008 was deemed controversial
when art created by Holocaust survivors was displayed next to art created by
an artist born afterwards. Do your students think this is problematic? You
could encourage them to have a debate discussing the pros and cons of this.

The following artwork has been created by the artist Gideon
Summerfield, with the consent of the Holocaust survivors, who all
chose which item they would pose with, or would be highlighted. Show
your students the artwork and ask them what they think the items
represent; why did the survivors choose those things?

Give your students an opportunity to paint or draw their own picture to
commemorate the Holocaust.
©Gideon Summerfield
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©Gideon Summerfield
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What next

If your students have created their own artwork, encourage them to enter the
online competition, ‘Drawing Inspiration’. Further details can be found here:
drawinginspiration.hmd.org.uk
You may also wish to offer your students the chance to create artwork in their
own time, in response to the competition themes.

Offer your students an opportunity to reflect on what they have seen and
discussed. Give them a chance to ask questions.

You could arrange for the paintings (included in the appendices), or the
pictures your students create, to be displayed in the school.

For more information and more case studies about looted art, please see:
Commission for Looted Art’s website:
http://www.lootedartcommission.com/
Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945’s
website:
http://www.lootedart.com/

There are many more paintings and artwork created during the Holocaust and
afterwards, as a response, that your students may wish to look at. Please
see, for example:
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/museum/art_museum.asp
http://www.jhm.nl/collection/specials/charlotte-salomon
http://www.jewishmuseum.cz/
http://www.ushmm.org/research/research-in-collections/overview/art-andartifacts

Ask your students what they would like to do next… would they like to see
artwork connected to the Holocaust, would they like to know more about it?
For more information on the Holocaust and subsequent genocides, please see
our website: hmd.org.uk
For lesson plans, assemblies and classroom activities on the Holocaust and
subsequent genocides, please see: hmd.org.uk/year/education/2014

encourage your students to take a step for Holocaust Memorial Day and
share this action with everyone else who has taken a step through a special
website: journeys.hmd.org.uk
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