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    Artist

  • Bloch, Felix, 1898-1944

    • Title

  • [Attic Room in Theresienstadt : and Landscape Overlooking the River Valley]

  • Physical Description

    2 drawings : ink, pencil and watercolor wash on paper ; 11.8" x 11" (30 x 28 cm.)

  • Date

    circa 1944

  • Summary

    Recto: Attic room filled with items and beds, with opening in roof. A handwritten line under the drawing reads: “Zur Erinnerung an schönere Tage als es der 14. V. 44 war. Dein Ferry Bloch” [In memory of more beautiful days than the one on May 14, 1944, your Ferry Bloch].

    Verso: Landscape overlooking river valley.

  • Subject

    Theresienstadt (Concentration camp); Attics; Landscapes

  • Medium

    Drawings; Paintings; Watercolors

  • Accession Number

  • URL

Biographical/Historical Information

Felix Bloch (1898-1944) trained and worked in Vienna as a graphic designer and illustrator, escaping to Prague during the Nazi Anschluss in the spring of 1938. He was employed by the Ältestenrat der Juden (Jewish council in Prague) until his arrest by the Gestapo and deportation to Theresienstadt on July 30, 1942. In Theresienstadt, he was a member of the Techinal Drawing Office, where he clandestine drawings from memory. Following a visit by the International Red Cross to Theresienstadt, he was arrested with fellow artists Bedrich Fritta, Leo Haas, and Otto Ungar for allegedly distributing "horror propaganda" on July 17, 1944. Bloch was murdered during interrogation by SS Nazi officials in the Small Fortress prison in Theresienstadt.

In Theresioenstadt, some artists were assigned to the “Zeichenstube”, the technical drawing office. There, they worked on architectural drafting, posters, and other authorized projects. The most recognized artists in the camp included Leo Haas, Bedrich Fritta, Karel Fleischmann, Otto Ungar, and Felix Bloch. Some of their art was smuggled out and found its way to Switzerland. When the Red Cross saw this artwork, they planned a visit to Theresienstadt, and the Nazis deported some inmates to Auschwitz to remove the look of overcrowding. When the Red Cross arrived, they saw the fakeness of the quaint little streets and shops. At the artists’ workshop, most of the artwork displayed “good things” that the Nazis had forced them to show. But the artists had painted the bad side of the camp too, and they showed these to the Red Cross, which left without a word. Immediately after they left, the Nazis arrested Bloch, Fritta, Haas, and Ungar. They were tortured, and Bloch died after a few days. The others were deported with their families to Auschwitz. (Source: Glenn Sujo : Legacies of Silence; London, 2001).

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Citation

Bloch, Felix: [Attic Room in Theresienstadt : and Landscape Overlooking the River Valley], Leo Baeck Institute, 84.495.