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PORTRAITS BY VLADIMIR ZLAMALL AND VASILI IVANOV

ART AT AUSCHWITZ

ART AT AUSCHWITZ

PORTRAITS BY VLADIMIR ZLAMALL AND VASILI IVANOV

The Museum’s collection has also retained individual portraits by inmates of other nationalities, including Vladimir Zlamall and Vasili Ivanov.


Vladimir Zlamall was a Czech inmate brought to Auschwitz in December 1942. He worked in the camp hospital in blocks Nos. 20 and 21, where, to the order of the SS medical staff, he made coloured drawings of inmates suffering from noma, including those sent by Dr Mengele from Birkenau. He also illegally drew portraits of his fellow inmates. Four of his portraits, including that of Zygmunt Pociecha, have been preserved in the Museum collection.

Pencil drawing, delicate line. Middle-aged man. He is wearing a buttoned-up shirt and a jacket. Serious, sad, long face. Hair hidden under a cap – beret. Eyesight and head directed slightly to the left. Slightly concerned and thoughtful face.

Source: A-BSM Collection

Vladimir Zlamall, Portret Zygmunta Pociechy [Portrait of Zygmunt Pociecha], Auschwitz 1943. With a dedication on the obverse: “To my dearest Mother to remember me by. Ziunek”.

Vasili Ivanov, a Russian inmate, stayed at Auschwitz in 1944, where he portrayed his fellows. Two of his portraits have been preserved in the collection.

Pencil drawing, delicate line. Middle-aged man. Dressed in a buttoned-up shirt and a striped jacket. Serious, sad, long face. A flat cap on his head. Eyesight and head directed firmly to the left. Serious and thoughtful face.

Source: A-BSM Collection

Vasili Ivanov, Portret Józefa Nowaka [Portrait of Józef Nowak], Auschwitz 1944.