Through an Artist's Eyes: The Dehumanization and Racialization of Jews and Political Dissidents During the Third Reich

247 Pages·2021·7.266 MB·English

by  Willa M. Johnson

THROUGH AN ARTIST’S EYES
This book offers visual, social-historical analyses of paintings and drawings of the
outspoken German Communist activist-artist Karl Schwesig. It follows the course
of Schwesig’s internments, but is dedicated primarily to the plight of foreign
Jewish persons and Christians (of Jewish descent) who were interned at Camps
Saint-Cyprien, Gurs, and Noé in the French free zone. The artworks created by
Schwesig provide the themes investigated in each chapter. The works describe the
dehumanizing treatment that contributed to and characterized the racialization
of foreign Jewish and “mixed-race” Jewish persons in France’s free zone and the
attempted elimination of political dissidents. The volume includes color plates.
Willa M. Johnson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Mississippi.
She has been a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the International Institute
for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem-The World Holocaust Remembrance
Center, Jerusalem, and the 2012–13 Cummings Foundation Fellow at the Jack,
Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the US
Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.
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Through an Artist’s Eyes
The Dehumanization and Racialization of Jews and Political Dissidents During
the Third Reich
Willa M. Johnson
For more information about this series, please visit www.routledge.com/New-
Critical-Viewpoints-on-Society/book-series/NCVS
THROUGH AN
ARTIST’S EYES
The Dehumanization
and Racialization of Jews
and Political Dissidents
During the Third Reich
Willa M. Johnson
First published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of Willa M. Johnson to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Johnson, Willa Mathis, 1957– author.
Title: Through an artist’s eyes : the dehumanization and racialization
of Jews and political dissidents during the Third Reich / Willa M.
Johnson.
Description: New York : Routledge, 2021. | Includes bibliographical
references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020037464 | ISBN 9780367621070 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780367629984 (hardback) | ISBN 9781003111795 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Schwesig, Karl, 1898–1955—Criticism and
interpretation. | Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945), and art. | Holocaust,
Jewish (1939–1945), in art.
Classification: LCC N6888.S4156 J65 2021 | DDC 700/.458405318—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020037464
ISBN: 978-0-367-62998-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-62107-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-11179-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Curtis, Kirk, and Olivia

CONTENTS
List of Figures x
Acknowledgements xii
Preface xvii
Introduction 1
Racializing Jews 2
Karl Schwesig’s Personal Troubles or Social Structural Issues? 3
1 “I Fought National Cannibalism With . . . Art”:
Karl Schwesig, the Ethos of Düsseldorf, and the
Weight of Stigmatization, 1933–1939 15
The Beginning of Woes 18
Schwesig in the Schlegelkeller 22
Schwesig’s Artist Colleagues 26
Jewish Persons in the Prewar Düsseldorf Region 28
Schwesig in Exile 30
Transport of Jewish Exiles to the South of France 32
2 “The Inferno or Hell of [Camp] Saint-Cyprien,” 1939–1940 42
Saint-Cyprien’s Origins 46
Saint-Cyprien 1939: First, a Camp for Spanish
Republicans 48
Jewish and Political Refugees After the Evacuation 53
viii Contents
Structure, Agency, and Institutional Lapses at Camp
Saint-Cyprien 54
Privacy, Liberties, and Hygiene 55
Diarrhea, Disease, and Death 58
Weathering Camp Saint-Cyprien 63
Religious Identity and Food at Camp Saint-Cyprien 69
Foodstuffs and Cans 74
Male Rape in Its Aftermath or at Saint-Cyprien? 76
Institutional Roles and the Closing of Camp
Saint-Cyprien 79
3 “Many of These Unfortunate People Are Intellectuals”:
Art, Culture, Illness, and Death at Camp Gurs 98
Encountering Camp Gurs 100
The Men Cutting Firewood 103
Poverty, Dignity, and Status at Gurs 108
Art and Religious Celebrations 112
“The Barrack of Death” 116
Social Network at Camp Gurs 125
A Response to Life at Gurs 128
4 “They Are All Special Cases of Ill and Old People Who
Need Better Care Than the Ordinary Intern”: Opening
Our Eyes to Camp Noé 139
Inside Out: An Introduction to Camp Noé (a French
Camp-Hospital) 141
Vichy’s Camp Noé 147
The Structure of Camp Noé and Its Provisions 147
Noé Contraindicated for Tuberculosis Patients 149
Food as Arbiter of Health 153
Populations and Health 156
Defining Sickness: When Disease Is Not Illness and Epidemics
Do Not Exist 173
Deportation of Foreign Jews From Camp Noé 175
5 “Cruelty . . . That Dehumanizes Its Victims Before
It Destroys Them”: The Violence of Racialization 190
What Threat Did Jewishness Pose to Vichy? 192
How Jews Were Racialized and Political Dissidents
Silenced 193
Contents ix
The Salience of Racialization and Dehumanization in the
21st Century 198
Karl Schwesig in Postwar Düsseldorf 200
Index 203