I am doing it?!? Cartoon of three Jews in a forced labor unit
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm) | Width: 7.000 inches (17.78 cm)
Creator(s)
- M. Jarosz (Artist)
- Peter Ehrenthal (Compiler)
Biographical History
The Katz Ehrenthal Collection is a collection of more than 900 objects depicting Jews and antisemitic and anti-Jewish propaganda from the medieval to the modern era, in Europe, Russia, and the United States. The collection was amassed by Peter Ehrenthal, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, to document the pervasive history of anti-Jewish hatred in Western art, politics and popular culture. It includes crude folk art as well as pieces created by Europe's finest craftsmen, prints and periodical illustrations, posters, paintings, decorative art, and toys and everyday household items decorated with depictions of stereotypical Jewish figures.
Archival History
The drawing was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016 by the Katz Family.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Katz Family
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Colorful caricature in ink and watercolor of three Jewish men in a forced labor unit. They stand facing each other, two carry shovels, one a broom. Their stereotypical Jewish features have been exaggerated for comical effect. The drawing is one of more than 900 items in the Katz Ehrenthal Collection of antisemitic artifacts and visual materials.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Caricature in ink and watercolor on paper depicting 3 men with comically exaggerated Jewish features, standing close, facing each other in a semi-circle. The middle aged man on the left, in right profile, is clean shaven, with red fleshy lips, a red bulbous nose, and spectacles. He has a large protruding belly, and wears a white armband with a blue Star of David over his brown, orange checked jacket, too short blue pants and too large shoes. A shovel hangs from his hand. In the center is an old, bald, short, resigned looking man with huge pointed ears and a huge, curved nose, thick eyebrows, hooded eyes, red lips, and a tufted beard. He wears a scarf and jacket, with checked blue pants with ties around the calves to shorten them. He holds a tall broom. The older man on the right, in left profile, has a huge, hooked nose, large, pointed ears, red fleshy lips, sidelocks and beard. He is extremely thin and wears Hasidic dress: a black skullcap and a raggedy, long black overcoat with a white armband with a blue Star of David. A shovel rests on his shoulder.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in art.
- Jews--Caricatures and cartoons--Specimens.
- World War, 1939-1945--Caricatures and cartoons.
- Antisemitism in art--Specimens.
- Jews--Persecutions--Poland--Pictorial works.
- World War, 1939-1945--Conscript labor--Pictorial works.
- Forced labor--Poland--History--20th century--Pictorial works.
Genre
- Object
- Art