24 April 2014 Published in Events

Exhibition: Portraits and Greeting Cards in the Concentration Camp in Erzingen

Exhibition: Portraits and Greeting Cards in the Concentration Camp in Erzingen
Type: Opening of the exhibition
Date: May 9th, 2014
Time: 6 p.m.
Venue: Landratsamt (County Administration Centre) Freudenstadt

The exhibition is a joint project of the Association of Patrons of the Rexingen Synagogue and the Catholic Adult Education Programme, Freudenstadt. It was set up by Immo Opfermann from Schömberg and shows how prisoners in the Concentration Camp supported each other in solidarity.

The highly-talented Julien Lievevrouw drew portraits of great intensity of the three most important prisoners charged with special tasks in the Camp: Bernard Hemmer, a Dutchman and Block senior; Jan Albertus Cleton, Camp senior, and Dr. Léon Boutbien, a French medical doctor. These portraits convey a far more intense image of the three men than any photo could do.
Most of the greeting cards are very humorous and reflect both the will to survive and the survival strategies devised by the prisoners. They are small, humane works of art which prove that prisoners charged with special tasks were not necessarily henchmen of the Nazi Regime but could in fact save and preserve lives as did the three subjects of these portraits in Erzingen. The many signatures of common prisoners - written on the cards at great personal risk – testify to this fact.

Guests: Speaker: Immo Opfermann
Admission: free
Address: Herrenfelder Str. 14, Freudenstadt
Additional information: The exhibition is on view until June 27th, 2014 during the usual opening hours of the Landratsamt (County Administration Centre), Herrenfelder Str. 14, Freudenstadt