Bedřich Fritta
Drawings
from the
Theresienstadt
Ghetto

17 May to 29 September 2013
and as part of the special program on the Terezín Ghetto from
28 February to 4 May 2014
Bedrich Fritta, Clearing the Sudeten Barracks
Bedřich Fritta, Clearing the Sudeten Barracks, 1943
Ink, pen and brush, 70 x 96 cm
© Thomas Fritta-Haas, long-term loan to the Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

In this picture, Fritta depicts the chaotic evacuation of more than 4,300 people from the former artillery barracks. The barracks were cleared to make room for the archives and staff of the Reich Security Main Office

Multitudes

A frequent motif in Fritta's drawings is the mass of human beings crowded into the overpopulated ghetto.

In these images, bodies throng together in the closest proximity, around and on top of each other. The figures are evenly distributed across the picture, incorrectly proportioned in terms of perspective. This contributes to a sense of flatness in the drawings and reinforces the impression of a teeming crowd of anonymous people, recalling portrayals of hell in medieval art.

Sometimes individual characters stand out, for example the emaciated figure in Men's Sleeping Quarters in the Sudeten Barracks. But even here, Fritta stresses the enforced intimacy and constriction of the mass sleeping quarters, where all human individuality is lost.

Bedrich Fritta, Men's Sleeping Quarters in the Sudeten Barracks
Bedřich Fritta, Men's Sleeping Quarters in the Sudeten Barracks, 1943
Pen and ink, 37,8 x 28,5 cm
© Thomas Fritta-Haas, long-term loan to the Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

Fritta lived in the Sudeten barracks, along with the members of the second construction commando and later arrivals.

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Bedrich Fritta, Sleeping Quarters
Bedřich Fritta, Sleeping Quarters, 1943
Pen and ink, 28,7 x 37,7 cm
© Thomas Fritta-Haas, long-term loan to the Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
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Bedrich Fritta, Sleeping Quarters in the Attic
Bedřich Fritta, Sleeping Quarters in the Attic, 1943/44
Ink, pen and brush, wash, 54,4 x 82,5 cm
© Thomas Fritta-Haas, long-term loan to the Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe
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Bedrich Fritta, Cvokárna: Room with Insane Women
Bedřich Fritta, Cvokárna: Room with Insane Women, 1943
Pen and ink,, 37,3 x 27,5 cm
© Thomas Fritta-Haas, long-term loan to the Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

The western wing of the Kavalier Barracks, in the northeast of Theresienstadt, housed mentally ill prisoners and was called "Cvokárna"-"bedlam" by the inmates. According to eyewitnesses, these dark, damp vaults were among the ghetto's very worst living quarters.

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Bedrich Fritta, Life in Theresienstadt
Bedřich Fritta, Life in Theresienstadt, 1943/44
Ink, pen and brush, wash, 54,6 x 83,5 cm
© Thomas Fritta-Haas, long-term loan to the Jewish Museum Berlin, photo: Jens Ziehe

Here, Fritta combines scenes from other drawings to create a picture of life in the overcrowded ghetto. Originally inhabited by 7,000 people, Theresienstadt later accommodated up to 50,000 detainees at a time.

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"Multitudes"
(list of drawings)

Bedřich Fritta
Drawings
from the
Theresienstadt
Ghetto

17 May to 29 September 2013
and as part of the special program on the Terezín Ghetto from
28 February to 21 April 2014

Logo of the Jewish Museum Berlin