Etched in Flesh and Soul: The Auschwitz Number in Art

Batya Brutin

Published by De Gruyter 2022

Etched in Flesh and Soul

The Auschwitz Number in Art

Batya Brutin

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110739961

Overview
Contents

About this book

A series of numbers was tattooed on prisoners’ forearms only at one location - the Auschwitz concentration camp complex. Children, parents, grandparents, mostly Jews but also a significant number of non-Jews scarred for life. Indelibly etched with a number into their flesh and souls, constantly reminding them of the horrors of the Holocaust.

References to the Auschwitz number appear in artworks from the Holocaust period and onwards, by survivors and non-survivor artists, and Jewish and non-Jewish artists. These artists refer to the number from Auschwitz to portray the Holocaust and its meaning. This book analyzes the place that the image of the Auschwitz number occupies in the artist’s consciousness and how it is grasped in the collective perception of different societies. It discusses how the Auschwitz number is used in public and private Holocaust commemoration. Additionally, the book describes the use of the Auschwitz number as a Holocaust icon to protest, warn, and fight against Holocaust denial.

Author / Editor information

Batya Brutin, art historian and curator, researcher of Holocaust monuments and Holocaust visual arts, Israel.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
List of Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter One: An Everlasting Scar — Auschwitz Tattooed Number Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
Chapter Two: Life in the Shadow of the Auschwitz Number Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
Chapter Three: The Auschwitz Number in Public and Private Commemoration Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Chapter Four: The Auschwitz Number as Holocaust Icon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Historians, Art Scholars, Sociologists with an interest in Holocaust Studies.
Pages
- Front matter: 16
- Main content: 203
Illustrations
- Coloured Illustrations: 146
Keywords: arts; Holocaust memory

eBook

Published: December 6, 2021
ISBN: 9783110739961

Hardcover

Published: December 20, 2021
ISBN: 9783110739916