Abstract Prior to the Allies’ photo campaigns at the war's end, inmates had already recognized the need to visually document what happened in the Nazi concentration camps. The Jewish artist Walter Spitzer recalled his instructions from a member of the resistance organization in Buchenwald: “We want you to observe what happens here, look everywhere, remember what you see, and draw! You are our camera!” Since their creation, his and others’ drawings have been compared to photography. This article analyzes what such a comparison entails and traces the production, content, and reception of images recorded in the camps. It then examines the changes these images, and the artists’ interpretations of Buchenwald, underwent when they moved from the camp to other places after the liberation. Spitzer and others belonged to a resistance network in Buchenwald that produced and circulated visual knowledge. Upon their release from the camp, former inmates edited their drawings before disseminating their visual knowledge. Creating this imagery was a collaborative effort both during and after the war, when former camp inmates migrated all over Europe. This article follows the different elements and transnational collaborations that influenced the creation of a new imagery framed by camp experiences, cultural traditions, political opinions, and the shifting social and historical environment.
Ella Falldorf (Tue,) studied this question.