The Living Witness Summary

The Living Witness by Mary S. Costanza takes an intimate view into the lives of those forced into the Nazi-controlled concentration camps and ghettos during World War II through the art they created. The book begins by noting that there is no other time in recorded history that such a large number of visual documentation was created about the terrors a group experienced as did those in these European death camps. This book contains black and white photographs of some of the art produced by the individuals mentioned throughout. The author then explains the significance of the visual images as a universally understandable medium. By showing recognizable human forms experiencing horrifically inhuman conditions, it communicates volumes without the use of

On some occasions Nazi officials would order art simply for their own enjoyment or for special occasions. This art was monitored closely by the Nazi government. Government-controlled art workshops existed in the ghettos. In the camps, those with artistic skills were surprisingly given a place. Those in the camps who were previously known for being artists and those caught creating art were often punished, but sometimes were “given particular duties for the pleasure of the Kommandant and his staff.” (13) Artists of all kind were sent into the camps, from cartoonists to costume designers. Art for bartering existed in the camps as well, such as an artist in the camp would offer their art to a guard in exchange for an extra morsel of food or for more art supplies. A chapter is dedicated to clandestine art: art made in secret in the camps and hidden and the lengths the artists went to to keep their art hidden, a remarkable feat considering the conditions. The following chapters are dedicated to the unearthing of this hidden art in the time following the closure of the