Wilhelm Brasse

Main article: The Portraitist
Wilhelm Brasse
Born 3 December 1917 (1917-12-03) (age 94)
Żywiec, Poland
Nationality Polish
Occupation Photographer (1940–1945)
Known for Photography done under duress as inmate of KL Auschwitz-Birkenau

Wilhelm Brasse (born 3 December 1917) is a Pole of Mixed Austrian-Polish descent who became known as the "famous photographer of Auschwitz"; his life and work are the subject of the 2005 Polish television documentary film The Portraitist (Potrecista), which first aired in the "Proud to Present" series on the Polish TVP1 on January 1, 2006.[1]

After the 1939 German invasion of Poland and occupation of Żywiec, Brasse's hometown in southern Poland, he was interrogated by the Schutzstaffel (SS), refused to swear allegiance to Hitler, and was imprisoned for three months. After his release, still refusing to capitulate to the Volksliste and forced membership of German Army, he tried to escape to Hungary and join the Polish Army in France but was captured, along with other young men, at the Polish–Hungarian border and deported to KL Auschwitz-Birkenau as prisoner number 3444.[2][3] Trained before the beginning of World War II as a portrait photographer at his aunt's studio[3] in Katowice,he was ordered by his SS supervisors to photograph "prisoners' work, criminal medical experiments, [and] portraits of the prisoners for the files."[4] Brasse has estimated that he took 40,000 to 50,000 "identity pictures" from 1940 until 1945, before being moved to another concentration camp in Austria, where he was liberated by the American forces in May 1945.[5][6][7][8]

While most of Brasse's photographs did not survive, some are on display in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.[7] His photographs inspired Painting Czesława Kwoka (2007), which won a literary award.[9]

Contents

Personal history

Descended from Austrian colonists, Wilhelm Brasse was born to a German Alsatian father and a Polish mother in Żywiec, Poland, on 3 December 1917.,[3][4] Wilhelm Brasse was "trained as a portrait photographer in a studio owned by his aunt", in Katowice, Poland, and "had an eye for the telling image and an ability to put his subjects at ease."[3]

After the September 1939 invasion of Poland, he was pressured by the Nazis to join them, refused, was repeatedly interrogated by the Gestapo, and tried to escape to France via Hungary, but he was captured at the Polish-Hungarian border and incarcerated for four months.[3] After continuing to refuse to "declare his loyalty to Hitler", on 31 August 1940, soon after it opened, he was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp.[3]

In February 1941, after having been called to the office of Rudolf Höß, Auschwitz's commander, along with four others, and tested for "photographic skills", he was selected specifically for his "laboratory skills" and "technical ability with a camera" and for his ability to speak German, and then ordered to document the Nazi prisoners in the camp in the "Erkennungsdienst, the photographic identification unit."[3] A year and a half later, Brasse encountered Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor who "liked" his photographs and wanted him to photograph some of the twins and people with congenital disorders moved to his infirmary on whom Mengele was "experimenting".[3] After the Soviets entered Poland, during the Vistula-Oder Offensive, from 12 January to 2 February 1945, along with thousands of other Auschwitz prisoners, Brasse was forcibly moved to Austria, to the concentration camp in Ebensee, a subcamp of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex (the last remaining in the area still controlled by the Nazis), where he remained imprisoned until the American forces liberated him in early May 1945.[3]

After returning home to Żywiec, a "few miles from" KL Auschwitz-Birkenau, Brasse tried to start "taking pictures again", but, traumatized, he found himself haunted by the "ghosts" of the "dead"—the subjects of his hundreds of thousands of Auschwitz pictures—and unable to resume his work as a portrait photographer, he ultimately established what would become a "moderately prosperous" sausage casing business.[3]

Although he has gone back to the State Museum at Auschwitz-Birkenau, "to talk with visitors about his experiences", and although he still possesses a "small pre-war Kodak" camera,[3] he will "never take another photograph."[3][10]

Married, with two children and five grandchildren, Brasse lives with his wife in Żywiec.[3]

The Auschwitz photographs

See also: Czesława Kwoka#Historical contexts of photographs of Czesława Kwoka, Czesława Kwoka#Auschwitz "Identification photographs" in memorial exhibits and photo archives, and Czesława Kwoka#Brasse's memories of photographing Kwoka

Trained before the beginning of World War II as a portrait photographer at his aunt's studio,[3] he was ordered by his SS supervisors to photograph "prisoners' work, criminal medical experiments, [and] portraits of the prisoners for the files."[4] Brasse has estimated that he took about 40,000 to 50,000 "identity pictures" from 1940 until 1945, before being forcibly moved to another concentration camp in Austria, where he was liberated by the American forces in early May 1945.[5][6][7][8]

Dr. Mengele had insisted that Brasse take the "identity" portraits of Auschwitz prisoners "in three poses: from the front and from each side."[3] After taking hundreds of thousands of such photographs, Brasse and others disobeyed later Nazi orders to destroy them,[3] yet only some of his photos have survived:

although it is hard to say which were Brasse's, since camp photos as a rule didn't carry the photographer's name[,] ... Jarosław Mensfelt, spokesman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, says some 200,000 such pictures were taken, with name, nationality and profession attached. ... About 40,000 of these pictures are preserved, some with the identification cards, and 2,000 of these are on display in the museum.... others are at Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial.[5][6][7]

Some photographs credited to Brasse are in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum's permanent exhibit in Block no. 6: Exhibition: The Life of the Prisoners.[11] All visitors to the Museum are asked explicitly to respect the Site of the Death Camp and not to use cameras (both still and video) in its indoor exhibits.[12]

Similar individual "identification photographs" or "mug shots" of prisoners of Auschwitz and other German concentration camps are accessible in the searchable online Photo Archives of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). Partially featured on the USHMM official Website is a photograph of the photo mural on a wall of its 3rd floor permanent exhibit.[13] A photograph of an adult female Auschwitz inmate by Wilhelm Brasse is accessible from the USHMM Photo Archives.[14] The USHMM official Website also features similar "identification photographs" credited to the "National Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum" (the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland), but without identifying the photographer (who may or may not be Brasse), as illustrations in "Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich".[15][16][17]

Documentary film: The Portraitist

Main article: The Portraitist

This 52-minute Polish documentary film about his life and work, entitled The Portraitist (Portrecista, Poland, 2005), directed by Irek Dobrowolski, and produced by Anna Dobrowolska, was first shown on Polish television station TVP1 on 1 January 2006, in the "Proud to present" series,[1] and it premiered at West London Synagogue, in London, on March 19, 2007, with a second screening by popular demand, on 22 April 2007.[18] In the film Brasse relates the "story behind some pictures in the Auschwitz museum archives that he remembers taking."[7]

As the synopsis for the film emphasizes, after taking thousands of photographs from 1940 until 1945, and, with "courage and skill", documenting "cruelty which goes beyond all words ... for future generations", Brasse "could not continue with his profession...."[19]

Fergal Keane concurs that "Brasse has left us with a powerful legacy in images. Because of them we can see the victims of the Holocaust as human and not statistics. ... The photographs are the work of a man who fought to keep his humanity alive in a place of unimaginable evil."[3]

Work of art based on Brasse's photographs

See also: Czesława Kwoka#Commemoration in art: Painting Czesława Kwoka

Among Brasse's photographs of children concentration-camp prisoners exhibited in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, in Poland, "identity pictures" of Czesława Kwoka attributed to him inspired a collaborative mixed-media artwork entitled Painting Czesława Kwoka, by Theresa Edwards (verse) and Lori Schreiner (art), which was displayed at the Windham Art Gallery in Brattleboro, Vermont, from June 1 to July 1, 2007, as part of the exhibition Words & Images: A Collaboration.[20] According to the artists' exhibition catalogue statement, it "brings Czeslawa's image and voice into our lives,"[20] thus memorializing Kwoka and all child victims of the Holocaust, as well as others who lost their lives as a result of war.[21] After being featured in the online journal AdmitTwo, in September 2007,[22] it received the 2007 Tacenda Literary Award for Best Collaboration, from BleakHouse Publishing.[9]

Filmography

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "W cyklu Widzieć i wiedzieć - Portrecista w reżyserii Irka Dobrowolskiego" (in Polish) (Web). Polecamy w TVP1 (program feature article). TVP1, Poland. 2006-01-16. http://ww2.tvp.pl/4178,20060109288565.strona. Retrieved 2008-09-02. 
  2. ^ "Wilhelm Brasse" (Web). Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. http://www.auschwitz.org.pl/new/index.php?tryb=szukaj&dzial=b_zgonow&s=Brasse&language=EN. Retrieved 2008-08-29. "Brasse, Wilhelm b.3.12.1917 (Żywiec), camp serial number:3444, profession:fotograf." 
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Fergal Keane (2007-04-07). "Returning to Auschwitz: Photographs from Hell". Mail on Sunday (Mail Online (Evening Standard & Metro Media Group)). http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/moslive/article-447045/Returning-Auschwitz-Photographs-Hell.html#. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  4. ^ a b c "The Portraitist (Portrecista)" (Web (catalogue entry)). New Polish Films 2006–2007 (Polish Film Institute): p. 61. http://www.pisf.pl/pliki/9f/03/9f036f662a46e99/new_polish_films_2007.pdf. Retrieved 2008-09-02. 
  5. ^ a b c Janina Struk (2005-01-20). " I will never forget these scenes' ". guardian.co.uk (London: Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/jan/20/secondworldwar.warcrimes. Retrieved 2008-08-28. "The Nazis at Auschwitz were obsessed with documenting their prisoners, camp life and camp guards, and Wilhelm Brasse was one of a group of prisoners forced to take photographs for them. With the 60th anniversary of the death camp's liberation approaching [in January 2005], he talks to Janina Struk.... Sitting in a small, empty, dimly lit restaurant in his home town of Żywiec in southern Poland, Brasse, now 87 years old and stooped from a severe beating in the camp, recalls his bitter experiences of Auschwitz.... Thanks to the ingenuity of [Darkroom worker Bronislaw] Jureczek and Brasse, around 40,000 of [the photographs] did survive, and are kept at Auschwitz museum." 
  6. ^ a b c Janina Struk (2003). Photographing the Holocaust: Interpretations of the Evidence. New York and London: I.B.Tauris, 2004. ISBN 9781860645464. http://books.google.com/?id=P0CnKQpDIL8C&dq=Wilhelm+Brasse. Retrieved 2008-08-29.  (Google Books provides hyperlinked "Preview".)
  7. ^ a b c d e Ryan Lucas (Associated Press Writer) (2008-07-08). "Auschwitz Photographer, Wilhelm Brasse, Still Images". imaginginfo.com (Cygnus Business Media). http://www.digitalimagingmag.com/publication/article.jsp?id=1549&pubId=2. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
  8. ^ a b Marc Shoffman (2007-03-15). "The Auschwitz Photographer". TotallyJewish.com (Jewish News Online). http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/national/?content_id=5859. Retrieved 2008-08-29. "A Polish photographer, who was ordered to take pictures of concentration camp inmates during the Second World War, will visit London for the first time this week to see a film of his work" 
  9. ^ a b "Awards" (Web). BleakHouse Publishing. 2007. http://www.bleakhousepublishing.com/Awards_b.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-29. "Best Collaboration, 2007: Painting Czeslawa Kwoka, by Theresa Edwards (verse), [Lori] Schreiner (art), photographs by Wilhelm Brasse (Admit2)." 
  10. ^ Struk (2004). Photographing the Holocaust. I.B.Tauris. pp. 119. ISBN 9781860645464. http://books.google.com/?id=P0CnKQpDIL8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Wilhelm+Brasse#PPA119,M1. 
  11. ^ "Block no. 6: Exhibition: The Life of the Prisoners" (Web). Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland. 2006-10-05. http://www.auschwitz.org.pl/new/index.php?language=EN&tryb=stale&id=442. Retrieved 2008-09-03. "Part of the exhibition in Block 6. In this block, there is a presentation of the conditions under which people became concentration camp prisoners and died as a result of inhumanly hard labor, starvation, disease, and experiments, as well as executions and various types of torture and punishment. There are photographs here of prisoners who died in the camp, documents, and works of art illustrating camp life. [Auschwitz I. Exhibition department. Photograph by Ryszard Domasik.] Copyright ©1999-2008 Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland." 
  12. ^ "Visiting the Site of the Death Camp" (Web). Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland. Copyright ©1999-2008. Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080430102704/http://www.auschwitz.org.pl/new/index.php?language=EN&tryb=stale&id=445. Retrieved 2008-09-03. "Taking pictures indoors is not allowed. Photography and filming on the Museum grounds for commercial purposes require prior contact with the Museum. ... While staying on the grounds of the Auschwitz Memorial please respect the site[.]"  The hyperlinked request directs visitors to maintain silence throughout the Site of the Death Camp and to refrain from using still and video cameras in the Museum's indoor exhibits.
  13. ^ "Photo Mural Displaying Mug Shots of Prisoners Interned in Auschwitz... Photograph #N02440" (Web). Photo Archives. USHMM. 1993–1995. http://www.ushmm.org/uia-cgi/uia_doc/query/1?uf=uia_bZjvFl. Retrieved 2008-09-18. "Photo mural displaying mug shots of prisoners interned in Auschwitz and a few of the badges they were made to wear to identify their nationality and prisoner category, that is on the third floor of the permanent exhibition at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial. [Photograph #N02440]. Date: 1993-1995. Locale: Washington, D.C., United States. Photographer: Edward Owen. Credit: USHMM. Copyright: USHMM." 
  14. ^ "Mugshot of a Female Auschwitz Prisoner Lena Lakony (no. 34800). Photograph #66649" (Web). Photo Archives. USHMM (USHMM). 1941. http://www.ushmm.org/uia-cgi/uia_doc/query/1?uf=uia_Vfjchl. Retrieved 2008-09-18. "Mugshot of a female Auschwitz prisoner Lena Lakony (no. 34800). Date: 1941. Locale: Auschwitz, [Upper Silesia] Poland; Birkenau; Auschwitz III; Monowitz; Auschwitz II. Photographer: Wilhelm Brasse. Credit: USHMM, courtesy of Esther Lurie. Copyright: USHMM." 
  15. ^ "Photography: Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich: Media ID3161" (Web). Photo Archives. USHMM. 1941. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005261&MediaId=3161. Retrieved 2008-09-18. "Identification pictures of a prisoner, accused of homosexuality, recently arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Auschwitz, Poland, between 1940 and 1945. — National Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau." 
  16. ^ "Photography: Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich: Media ID3163" (Web). Photo Archives. USHMM. 1941. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005261&MediaId=3163. Retrieved 2008-09-18. "Identification pictures of a homosexual prisoner who arrived in Auschwitz on November 27, 1941, and was transferred to Mauthausen on January 25, 1942. Auschwitz, Poland. — National Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau" 
  17. ^ "Photography: Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich: Media ID3164" (Web). Photo Archives. USHMM. 1941. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005261&MediaId=3164. Retrieved 2008-09-18. "Identification pictures of a prisoner, accused of homosexuality, who arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp on June 6, 1941. He died there a year later. Auschwitz, Poland. — National Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau" 
  18. ^ "The Portraitist: New Screening" (Web) (Press release). The Spiro Ark. http://www.spiroark.org/#/theportraitist/4521197489. Retrieved 2008-08-30.  Updated announcement of screenings of premiere, co-hosted by The Spiro Ark and the London Polish Cultural Institute, at West London Synagogue, London, 19 March 2007 and 22 April 2007 (second screening). (Illustrated.)
  19. ^ "The Portraitist". interkulturforum.org. rekontrplan.pl. http://www.interkulturforum.org/pages/filmer_en.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  20. ^ a b "Words & Images: A Collaboration" (PDF) (Press release). Windham Art Gallery (Brattleboro, Vermont). May 2007. http://www.writeaction.net/news/pdf/pr_may2007.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-28. "Auschwitz prisoner #26947, Czeslawa Kwoka, a young girl photographed before her death at age 14, is the subject of a collaboration between painter Lori Schreiner and poet Theresa Edwards, 'this collaboration,' the artist and writer said in their exhibition statement, 'brings Czeslawa's image and voice into our lives.' " 
  21. ^ Jon Potter (Reformer staff) (2007-06-14). "Thinking Outside the Book: Words and Images Combine in Exciting New Ways at WAG". Brattleboro Reformer (nl.newsbank.com (MediaNews Group)). http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BRFB&p_theme=brfb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=119C44BCDA496690&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2008-08-28.  (Subscription or fee required for access to archived articles.)
  22. ^ Theresa Edwards and Lori Schreiner. "Painting Czesława Kwoka" (Web). AdmitTwo (a2) (admit2.net) 19 (September 2007). http://www.admit2.net/edwards_et_schreiner.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-28. 
  23. ^ "Production Credits: Wilhelm Brasse (for the BBC)" (Web). Community Television of Southern California (KCET), (BBC and PBS). 2004–2005. http://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/about/credits.html. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 
  24. ^ Stanley, Alessandra. "The Portraitist (2005)" (Web). Allmovie (movies.nytimes.com (The New York Times Company and All Media Guide)). http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/398098/The-Portraitist/overview. Retrieved 2008-08-30. 

References

Rees, Laurence. Auschwitz: A New History. PublicAffairs, 2006. ISBN 1-58648-357-9 (10). ISBN 978-1-58648-357-9 (13). Google Books. Accessed August 29, 2008. (Provides hyperlinked "Preview".) [Companion book for Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State.]

External links