What was the Impact of the Holocaust on Postwar Art and Culture Essay

What was the Impact of the Holocaust on Postwar Art and Culture - Essay Example This figure represented two thirds of the total European Jewish population and a third of the world’s total. Causes Germany was forced to sign the humiliating Versailles Treaty, at the end of the First World War, in which the country was forced to cut down on its armed forces, its prewar territory was reduced, and Germans were forced to admit guilt for the war. They were also forced to pay reparations to the allied forces for losses incurred during the war. The country was also forced to adopt a parliamentary governing system, and it is through this system that Adolf Hitler became a Chancellor, or prime minister, in 1932. Soon after, his government started propagating hate campaign against Jews, claiming that they were the source of all German problems and, therefore, needed to be exterminated as a race from the world. This is what led to the Holocaust, a tragedy that peaked during the war and only ended with Germany’s defeat, by the allied forces, in 1945 (AICE). ... Other museums across the world have set aside sections that keep these objects too. Paintings and Pictures Visual representations have also been done through paintings, photography and films. Evidence from the concentration camps indicates that the detainees engaged in the art to express their feelings and sufferings, and to avoid getting bored. Though some of this work was discovered by the Nazis and destroyed claiming it was part of ‘horror propaganda’, and the artists punished severely, however, some of it survived. This includes Josef Nassy’s 200 drawings which he painted while at Bavaria’s Laufen and Tittmoning concentration camps. His pieces of art survived the concentration camps and these help in capturing an eye witness’ account of the dehumanizing nature in which Nazis treated the Jews. ‘No names’ are paintings by Alice Lok Cahana, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who tells her story as a teenage detainee. Her work is preserved i n the Collection of Modern Religious Art gallery, at the Vatican Museum. Some other artists helped in producing paintings of life at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp months after its liberation and these include Mary Kessell, Leslie Cole, and Sargeant Eric Taylor who was one of the camp's liberators. A lot of these paintings have been done over time including those by contemporary artists and are on display in different museums and art galleries across the globe (Zelizer 8). Photography Photography has also been used extensively to preserve memories of the Holocaust. Among these is the more than 10,000 photos taken secretly by Mendel Grossman while at the death camps. Though he died in the same camps; however, the negatives were used to develop photos