UTW 34

Man playing violin in the Warsaw ghetto

Art: 1997
Media: Ink on paper mounted on etching paper w/ pieces of rectilinear-shaped etching papers mounted on larger paper
Size: Framed, 41.5 in. H x 32 W [105.41 cm. H x 81.2 W]

Drawn from a Warsaw Ghetto photo taken by Nazi soldier Heinz Jost, who went into the ghetto "illegally," but with his Nazi soldier's uniform, he wasn't stopped. Jost's notes stated: "This man was playing the same notes on his violin over and over again. His eyes followed me; I'm not sure if it was out of fear or because he was hoping for a coin. I believe this was also in Nowolipki  Street."  

~
The photo, in an enlarged wall size print, along other Warsaw Ghetto photos taken by Jost, were exhibited at Seattle's Museum of History & Industry in 1994. Seven of Segan's UTW series artworks were exhibited with that exhibition, providing a local focus for visitors to the MOHAI exhibit. "Man with Violin in the Warsaw ghetto…" hadn't yet been drawn.

~
The Jost photos were traveling in a Smithsonian Institution's Traveling Exhibition Services loan exhibit. Prior to his death, Jost had sent them to Stern magazine in Germany (post-WWII). Stern’s staff sent them to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Yad Vashem provided a set to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.