WWII Archives - Page 2 of 8 - Fritz Ascher Society

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. [...]

Sep 29, 2025

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter OCTOBER 2025

Rachel Stern2026-01-04T06:01:04-05:00September 29th, 2025|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter OCTOBER 2025

Dear Friends, September isn't over yet, and our programming isn't either, with the virtual event about the architect of the Knesset, Ossip Klarwein, re-scheduled to happen tomorrow. For the Jews among us, the High Holy Days will dominate this month, a time to pause, to look inward, and to recommit ourselves to the values of compassion, justice, and peace. At the Fritz Ascher Society, we continue to feature untold stories of artists marginalized and persecuted by the German Nazi regime, and inspire conversations and discussions of high relevance today. To watch the stories told in past events, you can visit our YouTube channel @fritzaschersociety, or our online exhibition IDENTITY, ART AND MIGRATION, which now includes the artist Samson [...]

Sep 2, 2025

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2025

Rachel Stern2025-12-29T06:24:44-05:00September 2nd, 2025|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2025

Dear Friends, Happy September! This month, we continue our exploration of the work and life of the German-born artist Samson Schames (1898-1967), who we first discussed on August 27th - you can find the link to the recording below. On September 17th, our virtual event will focus on friends and family. By then, the exhibition at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York will have opened, and the publication date of the addition of Samson Schames to our online exhibition "Identity, Art and Migration" will be announced. But first, we'll start with the Hungarian-born artist Theodore Fried: WEDNESDAY, September 3, 12:00PM EDT online Theodore Fried (1902-1980): In Hiding and Beyond Presentation by Sofia [...]

Aug 12, 2025

The Three Exiles of the German-born artist Samson Schames (1898-1967)
Conversation with Annika Friedman (Germany), Rachel Dickson, PhD (UK) and Ori Z Soltes, PhD (USA)

Rachel Stern2025-09-26T07:49:38-04:00August 12th, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on The Three Exiles of the German-born artist Samson Schames (1898-1967)
Conversation with Annika Friedman (Germany), Rachel Dickson, PhD (UK) and Ori Z Soltes, PhD (USA)

In this virtual event, a transatlantic panel discusses the artist Samson Schames. Annika Friedman (Germany) elaborates on the artist’s beginnings in Frankfurt, Rachel Dickson, PhD (UK) gives an insight into the work he made in British exile, and Ori Z. Soltes, PhD (USA) speaks about the work he created in his new home, New York. The presentations are followed by a moderated discussion and Q&A. Image above: Samson Schames, Granite Quarry No. 1, 1958. Casein on board, 20.75 in. x 26.25 in. Leo Baeck Institute New York 2007.97 Samson Schames was a German-Jewish artist born in 1898 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, into a prominent Jewish family involved in the textile business. He initially trained [...]

Aug 11, 2025

Samson Schames (1898-1967): Family and Friends
Conversation with Natalie Green Giles, James McCaffrey and Charlie Scheidt.
Moderated by William Weitzer

Rachel Stern2025-09-26T07:54:22-04:00August 11th, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on Samson Schames (1898-1967): Family and Friends
Conversation with Natalie Green Giles, James McCaffrey and Charlie Scheidt.
Moderated by William Weitzer

In this virtual event, a distinguished panel comprising family members, friends, and their descendants from New York share memories of the German-born artist Samson Schames (1898-1967). His work, which blends modernist aesthetics with spiritual and historical depth, is recognized for its innovative technique and poignant reflections on exile, memory, and identity. Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, he fled Nazi persecution to England in 1939 and later emigrated to the United States with his future wife, Edith, in 1948 and 1947. Image above: Samson Schames, Blowing the Shofar, c. 1956. Shards of glass, polychrome, layered in relief, 25.4 x 29.7 in. (64.5 x 75.5 cm). Jewish Museum Frankfurt A short film created [...]

Aug 4, 2025

Theodore Fried (1902-1980): In Hiding and Beyond
Presentation by Sofia Thornblad, Tulsa (OK)

Rachel Stern2025-09-03T14:31:57-04:00August 4th, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on Theodore Fried (1902-1980): In Hiding and Beyond
Presentation by Sofia Thornblad, Tulsa (OK)

This presentation explores the historical background and creative works of Hungarian-born Jewish artist Theodore Fried (1902-1980). He was educated at the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts and moved to Vienna in 1924 and to Paris in 1925. He met and married his first wife Anna and his son Christopher was born in 1928. That same year, the artist had his first one-man show, and was included in important shows in Vienna, Prague, Berlin, and Paris. Image above: Detail of Theodore Fried, Self Portrait, 1938. Oil on canvas. Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, Tulsa (OK) When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Fried’s work was labeled as “degenerate”. He fled with [...]

Jul 29, 2025

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter AUGUST 2025

Rachel Stern2025-11-09T06:20:57-05:00July 29th, 2025|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter AUGUST 2025

Dear Friends, Immediately after Adolf Hitler’s ascent to power in Germany in 1933 the Nazi government started persecuting Jews. Within months, tens of thousands of Jews left Germany. But soon emigration slowed considerably as visas became impossible to obtain. About 10,000 children were saved by leaving the country on a Kindertransport to Great Britain between December 1, 1938 and September 1, 1939. Later this month, we are screening the documentary My Knees Were Jumping; Remembering the Kindertransports and feature a discussion with Melissa Hacker, the film director. There were also individuals who stood up against the Nazi regime by saving people from persecution. Did you know that Aristides de Sousa Mendes saved artist Tamara DE LEMPICKA's daughter and stepdaughter? [...]

Jul 28, 2025

Ossip Klarwein (1893-1970): an Architect’s Journey from Berlin to Jerusalem
Presentation by Jacqueline Hénard, Berlin (Germany)

Rachel Stern2025-09-30T13:44:26-04:00July 28th, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on Ossip Klarwein (1893-1970): an Architect’s Journey from Berlin to Jerusalem
Presentation by Jacqueline Hénard, Berlin (Germany)

In this virtual event, Jacqueline Hénard speaks about the architect Ossip (also: Joseph) Klarwein (1893-1970), a pioneer of the avant-garde, whose works – including iconic buildings such as the church at Hohenzollernplatz in Berlin and the Knesset in Jerusalem – built bridges between expressionist tradition and radical modernism. Image above: Ossip Klarwein, Knesset in Jerusalem (Israeli parliament). Photo front side, 2022. Wikimedia Commons Clema12, CC BY-SA 4.0 Ossip Klarwein was born in 1893 in Warsaw. Due to pogroms in the collapsing Russian Empire, he emigrated with his parents and siblings to Hesse in 1905. Klarwein became an architect, with professional focuses in Berlin and Hamburg. In 1924, he married Martha Elsa Kumme, a Protestant opera singer. They had a son, Matthias. [...]

Jul 11, 2025

Ruth Morley and Lore Segal, Kindertransport Survivor Artists on Film
Film Screening and Conversation with Director Melissa Hacker

Rachel Stern2025-08-20T18:00:52-04:00July 11th, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on Ruth Morley and Lore Segal, Kindertransport Survivor Artists on Film
Film Screening and Conversation with Director Melissa Hacker

Join film director Melissa Hacker in conversation with Rachel Stern about My Knees Were Jumping; Remembering the Kindertransports. In the nine months just prior to World War II close to 10,000 children were sent, without their parents, to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland. These children were rescued by the Kindertransport movement. Most of the children never saw their parents again. Those courageous parents who had the strength to send their children off to an unknown fate soon boarded transports taking them to concentration camps. The story of the Kindertransports is an extraordinary piece of history - untold far too long. The children who lived the trauma and terror of being uprooted from secure homes tell [...]

Jul 10, 2025

Matisse at War. Art and Resistance in Nazi Occupied France
Book talk by Christopher C. Gorham

Rachel Stern2025-10-22T14:46:04-04:00July 10th, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on Matisse at War. Art and Resistance in Nazi Occupied France
Book talk by Christopher C. Gorham

In this book talk, author Christopher C. Gorham speaks about the artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) and his steadfastness to live and work during the years of World War II and the Nazi occupation of France. When the Degenerate Art exbibit opened in Munich in the summer of 1937, works by notable foreign modernists were denigrated along with German artists. Henri Matisse’s Blue Window (1913) was legally seized by the Nazi regime for inclusion in the traveling exhibit, and his work was banned from German museums. Henri Matisse was among the modernists derided by the Nazis. That did not stop them from stealing his art. At the Jeu de Paume Museum, Paris, [...]

Jul 2, 2025

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter JULY 2025

Rachel Stern2025-11-07T10:45:31-05:00July 2nd, 2025|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter JULY 2025

Dear Friends, Summer is here! As we are heading for July 4th, I hope you are staying cool in this sweltering heat. Looking for inspiring summer reading, we bring you a virtual book talk about another strong woman: WEDNESDAY, July 9, 12:00PM EDT DEAR MISS PERKINS. A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany Book talk by Rebecca Brenner Graham, Ph.D. REGISTER HERE In this book talk, Rebecca Brenner Graham describes how Secretary of Labor Francis Perkins helped save the lives of countless Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany - without fanfare, and despite powerful opposition. Frances Perkins’s early experiences working in Chicago’s famed Hull House, and as a firsthand [...]

Jul 1, 2025

WHAT IF?
Presentation by Ori Z Soltes, PhD, Washington, DC

Rachel Stern2025-07-23T18:00:05-04:00July 1st, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on WHAT IF?
Presentation by Ori Z Soltes, PhD, Washington, DC

This image-rich talk by Georgetown University professor Ori Z Soltes considers some of the many Jewish artists destroyed by the Holocaust who had either begun or were poised to add significant threads to the tapestry of twentieth century visual art. Some are now well-known and others remain obscure—but what if artists like Charlotte Salomon and Felix Nussbaum or like Erna Dem and Fritz Taussig had survived to do more art? What additional significant contributions might they have made? Image above: Bedřich Fritta (Friedrich Taussig), Rear Entrance, Theresienstadt Ghetto, 1941–1944. India ink and wash on paper, 51 x 36.5 cm Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum, Jerusalem. Gift of the Prague Committee for Documentation, courtesy of Ze'ev and Alisa Shek, [...]