Holocaust Archives - Fritz Ascher Society

Aug 31, 2026

SAVE THE DATE!
Understanding Past Realities of the Holocaust.
Photography versus Art
With Dr. Christoph Kreutzmüller (Berlin) and Dr. Rachel Perry (Boston)
UN Headquarters, New York

Rachel Stern2026-08-31T08:47:05-04:00August 31st, 2026|Events, Lectures|Comments Off on SAVE THE DATE!
Understanding Past Realities of the Holocaust.
Photography versus Art
With Dr. Christoph Kreutzmüller (Berlin) and Dr. Rachel Perry (Boston)
UN Headquarters, New York

This event will bring together leading scholars to examine how visual media contribute to our understanding of the Holocaust. Berlin-based Dr. Christoph Kreutzmüller and Boston-based Dr. Rachel Perry will interpret visual narratives that serve as both powerful and complex testimonies to lived experience. Through a detailed visual analysis, they will examine what photographs and works of art reveal about the individuals and communities depicted, as well as the embedded social dynamics and historical contexts. The discussion will also address the interpretive challenges inherent in visual sources. What are the strengths and limitations of photography compared to artistic representation? How do intention, perspective, and medium influence what is shown—or left out? By examining both photographic and artistic documents, the event [...]

Aug 4, 2026

Cocktail Reception
at the home of Gary Zimmerman
Central Park South, NYC

Rachel Stern2026-09-08T20:15:20-04:00August 4th, 2026|Events, Lectures|Comments Off on Cocktail Reception
at the home of Gary Zimmerman
Central Park South, NYC

Event Chair: Carol Prendergast Keynote Speaker: Bella Chagall Meyer Event committee (in formation): Betty Ehrenberg Cheryl Fishbein Janet Heit Sam Konig Ilona Oltuski Steven Orlikoff Ori Z Soltes Gary Zimmerman

Jul 28, 2026

FRITZ! in AUGUST with our first ever survey

Rachel Stern2026-08-13T07:03:53-04:00July 28th, 2026|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ! in AUGUST with our first ever survey

Dear Friends, Summertime! How do you recharge? Today we want to hear even more from you. Recently, we invited you to join us for New York in-person events - do you want to see more of that? Please share your ideas, opinions and thoughts in our first ever survey: ENTER THE SURVEY HERE Thank you for taking the time - we very much appreciate your feedback. This month, we invite you to meet Suzanne Loebl, who has a dramatic life story to tell, which informs her research interests: WEDNESDAY, August 12, 12:00PM ET online Lost and Sometimes Found: Suzanne Loebl’s Encounter with Nazi-Plundered Art and Its Sometime Restitution Suzanne [...]

Jul 21, 2026

Lost and Sometimes Found:
Suzanne Loebl’s Encounter with Nazi-Plundered Art
and Its Sometime Restitution
Suzanne Loebl in Conversation with Ori Z Soltes

Rachel Stern2026-08-13T06:16:59-04:00July 21st, 2026|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on Lost and Sometimes Found:
Suzanne Loebl’s Encounter with Nazi-Plundered Art
and Its Sometime Restitution
Suzanne Loebl in Conversation with Ori Z Soltes

Born in Germany, Suzanne Loebl and her family left for Belgium in 1938, and lucky enough to be hidden there after the Nazis overran the country. She survived to carve out a diverse career as a writer, including books that focus on the visual arts and museums. Her most recent volume, Plunder and Survival, draws from her passion for art and her fascination with the story of both the Nazi obsession and theft of cultural property and the winding trajectory of attempts to restore plundered artworks to the families or institutions from which they were stolen. Image above: Yussuf Abbo, sketch of Gretel Bamberger, Suzanne's mother, n.d. Courtesy Suzanne Loebl . In this zoom program Loebl [...]

Jun 30, 2026

FRITZ! in July with THANK YOU and Bauhaus women photographers

Rachel Stern2026-06-30T12:04:40-04:00June 30th, 2026|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ! in July with THANK YOU and Bauhaus women photographers

Dear friends, First of all: THANK YOU! A heartfelt thank you to those of you who responded so generously to help us continue and expand our work, and a heartfelt thank you to the anonymous sponsor who matched the donations. With your support, we will continue to bring to you buried art treasures and the stories of their creators in historical context. And now we are heading for the 250th birthday of the United States of America! Founded on the basis of an idea, we celebrate the double helix of American DNA: the Jeffersonian embrace of the enlightenment and Adam's emphasis not only on reason, but also on religion and tradition. We celebrate America as a work in [...]

Jun 2, 2026

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter June 2026

Rachel Stern2026-06-09T07:08:31-04:00June 2nd, 2026|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter June 2026

Dear Friends, This month, the FIFA Soccer World Cup kicks off, and this year it is hosted in North America, with games - among them the final - being played "just across the bridge" in New Jersey. What does that have to do with us? Well, in 1916, the artist Fritz Ascher drew soccer players into one of his sketchbooks - most probably from direct observation. He captured a dramatic moment, when a player holds a shot on goal. He catches the ball with his hands, which identifies him as the opponent's goal keeper - regular players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands. Fritz Ascher, Soccer Players, ca. 1916. Black ink [...]

Apr 28, 2026

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter MAY 2026

Rachel Stern2026-06-15T07:08:32-04:00April 28th, 2026|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter MAY 2026

Dear Friends, This yearning to be out and about, after this long and cold winter! Every year I marvel at the blooming trees and flowers and am reminded of the power of renewal. In addition to our online events, we are promoting two special in person events here in New York this month, and I hope to meet many of you who live in or around New York or are here for a visit. May is Jewish American Heritage Month, a commemoration of Jewish contributions to American culture and the celebration of the history, culture and achievements of the diverse Jewish community in the U.S. Our first virtual lecture of the month looks at early Jewish Immigrant Artists: [...]

Feb 13, 2026

Who Will Draw Our History?
Women’s Graphic Narratives of the Holocaust, 1944-1949
Presentation by Rachel Perry, PhD

Rachel Stern2026-03-05T07:21:05-05:00February 13th, 2026|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on Who Will Draw Our History?
Women’s Graphic Narratives of the Holocaust, 1944-1949
Presentation by Rachel Perry, PhD

In this talk, art historian and curator Rachel Perry discusses ten graphic narratives of their experiences of Nazi persecution created by women immediately after liberation. Lacking photographs of what they witnessed and endured, these "first responders" used visual storytelling to counter perpetrator and liberator sources and represent maternal loss, sexual violence, forced labor, and bodily trauma—experiences rarely recorded in canonical Holocaust testimony. Drawing on archives across Europe, Israel, and the United States, this talk recovers marginalized stories that predate Art Spiegelman's Maus by decades. Featured Artists: Lea Grundig (1906-1977), Luba Krugman Gurdus (1914-2011), Mária Turán Hacker (1886-1967), Edit Bán Kiss (1905-1966), Regina Lichter-Liron (1920-1995), Ella Liebermann-Shiber (1927-1998), Ágnes Lukács (1920-2016), Zsuza Merényi (1925-1990), [...]

Feb 3, 2026

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter FEBRUARY 2026

Rachel Stern2026-02-04T06:26:33-05:00February 3rd, 2026|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter FEBRUARY 2026

Dear Friends, As the snow doesn't seem to melt here in New York, we slowly move towards the Jewish holiday of Purim. So in our next talk, we will focus on the German-born Israeli artist Jacob Pins who depicted clowns repeatedly. We will explore how he portrayed the clown, a figure between tragedy and comedy, between self-identification and stage, within his larger oeuvre, within the Israeli society and beyond: Wednesday, February 11, 12:00pm ET online Jacob Pins (1917-2005): The Art of Laughter and Tears Presentation by Ori Z Soltes, PhD Georgetown University, Washington (DC) REGISTER HERE Jacob Pins, Dance of Death, 1957. Color woodcut, 995 x 597 mm. Forum Jacob Pins, [...]

Nov 25, 2025

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter DECEMBER 2025

Rachel Stern2025-11-28T14:22:03-05:00November 25th, 2025|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter DECEMBER 2025

Dear Friends, It is almost Thanksgiving here in the US. And I thank you for being part of our community. Your interest and engagement, your questions and comments, your ideas and support have helped shape who we are today. And it's been a productive year - not over yet! - with wonderful long-term and new partners. I'll address the exhibitions and other projects another time. In 20 virtual and in-person events we have discovered and discussed incredible art - some created in harrowing circumstances. We have commemorated and celebrated the art and their creators, who can inspire us all. The decisions they were confronted with and their life stories are as relevant as ever. Thank you to the [...]

Oct 28, 2025

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter NOVEMBER 2025

Rachel Stern2026-01-05T06:30:29-05:00October 28th, 2025|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter NOVEMBER 2025

Dear Friends, It is getting chillier outside! Perfect to visit an exhibition or sit down at your computer with a hot cup of coffee or tea, or lunch, and listen to one of our virtual events: This month, we celebrate two Austrian-born artists: costume designer Ruth Morleyon her 100th birthday (November 19 virtual event), and ceramist Vally Wieselthier, whose work is on view at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York (featured exhibition). We commemorate the so-called Kristallnacht (The night of broken glass) - the coordinated series of violent anti-Jewish pogroms that took place throughout Nazi Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland on November 9–10, 1938. As fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors live among us, we continue to focus on [...]

Oct 19, 2025

Confronting the Holocaust in Midcentury American Art
Presentation by Jennifer McComas, Bloomington (Indiana)

Rachel Stern2025-11-12T13:39:10-05:00October 19th, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on Confronting the Holocaust in Midcentury American Art
Presentation by Jennifer McComas, Bloomington (Indiana)

The Holocaust’s profound impact on midcentury American art has been underrecognized and understudied. Jennifer McComas, curator of the current exhibition Remembrance and Renewal: American Artists and the Holocaust, 1940-1970 at Indiana University’s Eskenazi Museum of Art and primary author of the accompanying catalogue, explores the ways that American artists—American-born, immigrants, refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe, and Holocaust survivors—confronted the Holocaust in their work during the war and in the decades just after. Image above: Anna Walinska (American, born England, 1906-1997), Survivors – Exodus, 1958. Oil on canvas, 60 x 84 in. (152.4 x 213.4 cm). Gift of Rosina Rubin, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2023.29. © Atelier Anna Walinska. Photo: Shanti Knight. [...]

SAVE THE DATE!
Understanding Past Realities of the Holocaust.
Photography versus Art
With Dr. Christoph Kreutzmüller (Berlin) and Dr. Rachel Perry (Boston)
UN Headquarters, New York

Cocktail Reception
at the home of Gary Zimmerman
Central Park South, NYC

Lost and Sometimes Found:
Suzanne Loebl’s Encounter with Nazi-Plundered Art
and Its Sometime Restitution
Suzanne Loebl in Conversation with Ori Z Soltes

Who Will Draw Our History?
Women’s Graphic Narratives of the Holocaust, 1944-1949
Presentation by Rachel Perry, PhD

Confronting the Holocaust in Midcentury American Art
Presentation by Jennifer McComas, Bloomington (Indiana)

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