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“Birkenau” by Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter, one of today's most important artists, created an abstract painting entitled Birkenau in 2014. In the four-part work, which consists of large-format paintings of equal size, Richter used as his models authentic photographs that were secretly taken in 1944 by the Sonderkommando (special task force) of the Jewish prisoners in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Among other things, the Sonderkommando was responsible for burning the bodies from the gas chambers.

A Polish resistance group smuggled a camera with a black and white film into the camp, and this was later used to take a total of seven photos. A Polish woman, Helena Datoń, then brought the film out of the camp in a toothpaste tube, thereby enabling the photographs to be published. These photos later became famous because they were used as vital evidence of the unspeakable crimes in Birkenau.

Through the discussion on the creation of Richter's work Birkenau, these shocking photographs finally have become a special part of public memory. At the same time the artist has completely concealed them in his work, thus making them invisible. This makes his painting a remarkable place of remembrance.

Gerhard Richter, Birkenau, 2014, oil on canvas, 260 x 200 cm, catalogue of works: 937-1
Gerhard Richter, Birkenau, 2014, oil on canvas, 260 x 200 cm, catalogue of works: 937-1
©
Gerhard Richter

Gerhard Richter refuses to hand over his work Birkenau to the art market. The original is the property of the Gerhard Richter Foundation and remains freely accessible to the public on a permanent basis. A digital version of the four-part oil painting can be found in the Reichstag building belonging to the German Bundestag in Berlin.

In November 2019, the work will be shown in a solo exhibition by Gerhard Richter at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. One of the rooms will show the four Birkenau paintings, the reproductions of the same size and the four photographs that inspired the artist to create Birkenau.

Jacek Barski, March 2020

 

 

Gerhard Richter's official homepage:

www.gerhard-richter.com

 

Studies for Birkenau from the Atlas by Gerhard Richter:

https://www.gerhard-richter.com/de/art/atlas/studies-for-birkenau-18588/?&referer=search&title=Birkenau&keyword=Birkenau

https://www.gerhard-richter.com/de/art/atlas/studies-for-birkenau-18589/?&referer=search&title=Birkenau&keyword=Birkenau

 

Birkenau at the Manchester International Festival 2015 with music by Arvo Pärt:

https://www.gerhard-richter.com/de/videos/exhibitions/richter-part-257

 

Further reading:

93 Details aus meinem Bild Birkenau, ein Kunstbuch von Gerhard Richter, Köln 2015

Gideon Greif, „Wir weinten tränenlos...“. Augenzeugenberichte des Jüdischen ´Sonderkommandos´ in Auschwitz, Frankfurt am Main, 1999

Dow Paisikovic, Zeitzeugenaussage vom 17. Oktober 1963: Staatliches Museum und Gedenkstätte Auschwitz-Birkenau, Polen

 

Furthe information (in German):

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz-Album#„Bilder_trotz_allem“

 

Further information (in English):

The Auschwitz Album von Lilly Jacob-Zelmanovic Meier auf der Website von Yad Vashem:

http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/album_auschwitz/index.asp

 

Sonderkommando and Alberto Errera:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonderkommando_photographs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Errera

 

Further information (in Polish, po polsku): 

Lekcja internetowa o Sonderkommando: http://lekcja.auschwitz.org/10_sonder/

 

Porta Polonica would like to express its gratitude to Gerhard Richter and his team, as well as to Dr. Wojciech Płosa, the Head of the Archive at the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau (Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau) for their support during the creation of this article.

 

Gerhard Richter, Birkenau, 2014, oil on canvas, 260 x 200 cm, catalogue of works: 937-1
©
Gerhard Richter
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  • Gerhard Richter, "Birkenau" 1

    Gerhard Richter, Birkenau, 2014, oil on canvas, 260 x 200 cm, catalogue of works: 937-1

  • Gerhard Richter, "Birkenau" 2

    Gerhard Richter, Birkenau, 2014, oil on canvas, 260 x 200 cm, catalogue of works: 937-2

  • Gerhard Richter, "Birkenau" 3

    Gerhard Richter, Birkenau, 2014, oil on canvas, 260 x 200 cm, catalogue of works: 937-3

  • Gerhard Richter, "Birkenau" 4

    Gerhard Richter, Birkenau, 2014, oil on canvas, 260 x 200 cm, catalogue of works: 937-4

  • Template 1

    The photo taken by the Sonderkommando from the collection of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (Miejsce Pamięci i Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau), inventory no. 280

  • Template 2

    The photo taken by the Sonderkommando from the collection of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (Miejsce Pamięci i Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau), inventory no. 281

  • Template 3

    The photo taken by the Sonderkommando from the collection of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (Miejsce Pamięci i Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau), inventory no. 282

  • Template 4

    The photo taken by the Sonderkommando from the collection of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (Miejsce Pamięci i Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau), inventory no. 283

  • Notiz von Stanisław Kłodziński und Józef Cyrankiewicz

    Notiz der polnischen Häftlinge Stanisław Kłodziński und Józef Cyrankiewicz vom 4. September 1944 (auf Polnisch)

  • Notiz von Stanisław Kłodziński und Józef Cyrankiewicz

    Notiz der polnischen Häftlinge Stanisław Kłodziński und Józef Cyrankiewicz vom 4. September 1944 (auf Polnisch)

  • Notiz von Stanisław Kłodziński und Józef Cyrankiewicz

    Notiz der polnischen Häftlinge Stanisław Kłodziński und Józef Cyrankiewicz vom 4. September 1944 (auf Polnisch)

  • Dow Paisikovic, Zeitzeugenaussage vom 17. Oktober 1963
    Dow Paisikovic, Zeitzeugenaussage vom 17. Oktober 1963, Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau

  • "Birkenau" von Gerhard Richter im Metropolitan Museum of Art

    Gespiegelt im "Grauen Spiegel", einer vierteiligen großformatigen Arbeit von 2018
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