art of Jewish children, Germany, 1936-1941: Innocence and persecution

A selection of 125 drawings by children from the Jewish schools of Berlin and Dusseldorf. These children had the use of some better art supplies - unlike the young artists of Theresienstadt or other concentration camps - but shared with those children an intense need for therapeutic, creative expression. The pictures give graphic witness to youthful hope and dread amidst nightmare reality. The drawings came from a larger group of over 1200 that has been sequestered by the artist teacher, Julo Levin, before his death at Auschwitz; and the book contains some of the artwork of Levin and other persecuted artists. A number of accompanying essays deal with the children's art, how it was collected and saved, and how the Jewish schools developed, the story of Levin and his contemporaries, and other related topics