And Death Shall Have No Dominion: Art in the Holocaust 1933-1945

English sample translation by Sue Pickett available
Includes 250 pictures
Recommended for translation by New Books in German (Spring 15)

“Degenerate art” – a term the Nazis applied to artwork created by persecuted and exiled artists – has been explored and examined in detail for decades. But how many people are aware of the art that emerged in the ghettos, hideouts and camps? Who is familiar with the likes of Jan Markiel, Marian Ruzsamski, Peter Kien, Władysław Siwek, Josef Čapek or Jerzy Adam Brandhuber? Felix Nussbaum and Peter Weiss are at least somewhat better known.

Jürgen Kaumkötter has spent more than 15 years exploring the art that emerged from the Nazi concentration camps and the artists who created it. He has searched for it in memorials, archives and private collections. In Death Does Not Have the Last Word, he tells the story of these artists and illuminates the often dramatic conditions under which their works were created and preserved. He also describes what life was like in the camps for artists, whose talents often did not escape the attention of the guards.

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Poland: MOCAK

  • Publisher: Galiani-Berlin
  • Release: 08.01.2015
  • 384 pages
  • ISBN: 978-3-86971-103-4
Cover Download Der Tod hat nicht das letzte Wort
Der Tod hat nicht das letzte Wort
Tina Winkhaus

Jürgen Kaumkötter

Born in 1969, Jürgen Kaumkötter is an art historian and historian specializing in the works of exiled artists and Holocaust art. He has curated numerous renowned exhibitions, including “Die verbrannten Dichter. Zwischen Himmel und Hölle 1918–1989“ (The Burned Poets. Heaven and Hell 1918-1989), „Die Unsterblichkeit der Sterne. Von Francisco de Goya über Walter Benjamin zu Václav Havel” (The Immortality of the Stars. From Francisco de Goya to Walter Benjamin and Václav Havel) and “Kunst in Auschwitz 1940–1945” (Art in Auschwitz 1940-1945). Jürgen Kaumkötter has written many academic papers on the subject and spent more than 15 years conducting research for Death Does Not Have the Last Word (the exhibition and book).