Self-Portrait with Jewish Identity Card, produced in 1943, serves as a haunting testament to the artist's existence in hiding during the Holocaust. Born in Osnabrück in 1904, the German painter navigated a trajectory from the formal academies of Europe to the desperate, constrained conditions of transit camps and clandestine life in occupied Belgium.
Artistic Formation and Exile
Formal studies began in 1920 across Hamburg and Berlin, grounding his early development in the New Objectivity movement. Influences included Vincent van Gogh, Henri Rousseau, Giorgio de Chirico, and Carlo Carrà. By 1933, he held the Rome Prize of the German Academy Villa Massimo. However, the rise of the Nazi regime rendered his status as a German-Jewish artist untenable, forcing him into a decade of displacement throughout Belgium and France.
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The occupation of Belgium in 1940 resulted in his arrest as a hostile alien and subsequent internment at the Saint-Cyprien camp in France. Following an escape during transfer, he lived in hiding for years. Despite the lack of professional resources, he continued to paint, supported by friends who supplied art materials. His work from this era, including Triumph of Death, incorporates symbols of his environment and personal history, such as the nut tree representing his surname.
Final Deportation and Record
Captured in July 1944, he and his wife Felka Platek were detained in the Mechelen transit camp before arriving at Auschwitz in August. While his wife was killed upon arrival, he was assigned prisoner number B-3594. Archives reveal a medical record from 20 September 1944 detailing treatment for a finger injury. He did not survive the war, and research indicates he died between September 1944 and January 1945.
Fast facts
- Born: 1904, Osnabrück
- Died: 1944, Auschwitz
- Nationality: German Reich
- Movement: New Objectivity
- Notable work: Self-Portrait with Jewish Identity Card
- Recognition: Rome Prize of the German Academy Villa Massimo
- Documentary: Eyewitness (1999)
Questions readers ask
What is the significance of the tree in his self-portrait?
The tree represents his surname, Nussbaum, which translates to nut tree in English, featuring branches that are cut.
When did researchers confirm his death?
While he was declared legally dead in 1955 with a date of 9 August 1944, archival evidence from 2014 confirms he was alive in the Auschwitz infirmary on 20 September 1944.
Achievements
- Rome Prize of the German Academy Villa Massimo
- Notable work: Self-Portrait with Jewish Identity Card
- Movement: New Objectivity
