.jpg&folderId=10592&imageformat=jpg)
.jpg&folderId=10592&imageformat=jpg)
Object numberM2019/006:001
DescriptionPhotograph album compiled by Bogdan Ivanovic, a Political Prisoner from Yugoslavia, imprisoned in Mauthausen concentration camp during WWII. The album includes his prisoner registration number pasted in the front, images of the camp showing electric fences, watch towers, inmates, suicide and escape victims, the crematorium, naked prisoners at roll call, and visiting Nazis such as SS Chief Heinrich Himmler, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, August Eigruber and camp commander Franz Ziereis inspecting Mauthausen in 1941.
The captions for each image are in Serbian, typed in Cyrillic letters. The family of Ivanovic states he was friends with a photographer from the camp; that is how he might have obtained copies of the photos.
Bogdan ‘Bobo’ Ivanovic was born in Zagreb, in the former Yugoslavia, 1 April 1907. He lived in Belgrade, (Serbia) with his wife Ana, who was also born in Zagreb in 1908. A photograph taken of the couple on 24 October 1933 depicts Bogdan in military uniform. By 1941, he was an officer – Captain Second Class with the Royal Air Force. On 22 October 1942, Bogdan was abducted from Belgrade and taken to Mauthausen. After appealing for assistance via the German Red Cross, his family were given confirmation in June 1943 of his survival and whereabouts.
Bogdan Ivanovic was classified as a political prisoner (red triangle), and issued prisoner number 13575. His records identified him with the abbreviations Jug.- Schutz, shortened German terms for Yugoslavian, and Protective Custody (afforded to him as a Prisoner of War). He was liberated 31 May 1945 and returned to Belgrade until his death in 1972. Shortly after, his wife visited her sister, Jelena Ciufo, in Australia, and brought the album. It remained in Jelena’s care until donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum.
The photographs are attributed to those taken in Mauthausen in the Erkennungsdienst (photographic laboratory/identification service) by the officer in charge; prior to May 1941, this was SS-Oberscharführer Friedrich (Fritz) Kornacz and after June 1941, the position fell to SS-Hauptscharführer Paul Ricken. Five copies were made of every photograph and distributed to SS-Oberscharführer, Karl Schulz, the SS headquarters in Berlin, Oranienburg, Vienna and Linz. A sixth prohibited copy also existed, printed by the prisoners working in the lab. Spanish prisoners Antonio García Alonso and Francisco Boix Campo, both prisoners working in the lab, were integral in saving a photographic record of camp. This was begun by Polish communist Stefan Grabowski. Poschacher Kommando (consisting of mostly young Spanish boys), working outside the camp in the village, undertook the operation to smuggle the photos out of Mauthausen. They remained with Anna Pointner until they were retrieved post-war and used as evidence in the Nuremberg Trials.
The captions for each image are in Serbian, typed in Cyrillic letters. The family of Ivanovic states he was friends with a photographer from the camp; that is how he might have obtained copies of the photos.
Bogdan ‘Bobo’ Ivanovic was born in Zagreb, in the former Yugoslavia, 1 April 1907. He lived in Belgrade, (Serbia) with his wife Ana, who was also born in Zagreb in 1908. A photograph taken of the couple on 24 October 1933 depicts Bogdan in military uniform. By 1941, he was an officer – Captain Second Class with the Royal Air Force. On 22 October 1942, Bogdan was abducted from Belgrade and taken to Mauthausen. After appealing for assistance via the German Red Cross, his family were given confirmation in June 1943 of his survival and whereabouts.
Bogdan Ivanovic was classified as a political prisoner (red triangle), and issued prisoner number 13575. His records identified him with the abbreviations Jug.- Schutz, shortened German terms for Yugoslavian, and Protective Custody (afforded to him as a Prisoner of War). He was liberated 31 May 1945 and returned to Belgrade until his death in 1972. Shortly after, his wife visited her sister, Jelena Ciufo, in Australia, and brought the album. It remained in Jelena’s care until donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum.
The photographs are attributed to those taken in Mauthausen in the Erkennungsdienst (photographic laboratory/identification service) by the officer in charge; prior to May 1941, this was SS-Oberscharführer Friedrich (Fritz) Kornacz and after June 1941, the position fell to SS-Hauptscharführer Paul Ricken. Five copies were made of every photograph and distributed to SS-Oberscharführer, Karl Schulz, the SS headquarters in Berlin, Oranienburg, Vienna and Linz. A sixth prohibited copy also existed, printed by the prisoners working in the lab. Spanish prisoners Antonio García Alonso and Francisco Boix Campo, both prisoners working in the lab, were integral in saving a photographic record of camp. This was begun by Polish communist Stefan Grabowski. Poschacher Kommando (consisting of mostly young Spanish boys), working outside the camp in the village, undertook the operation to smuggle the photos out of Mauthausen. They remained with Anna Pointner until they were retrieved post-war and used as evidence in the Nuremberg Trials.
Production date 1941 - 1945
Subjectconcentration camps, Communists, underground activities, political prisoner, photographs, Nuremberg Trials
Object namephoto albums
Materialphotographic emulsion, paper, ink, leather
Dimensions
- width: 257.00 mm
height: 210.00 mm
depth: 43.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Annabelle Ciufo