Set of US poster stamps encouraging people to donate to a humanitarian organization
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 2.000 inches (5.08 cm) | Width: 8.375 inches (21.273 cm)
Creator(s)
- Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, Inc. (Distributor)
- Arthur Szyk (Designer)
Biographical History
Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was born to Jewish parents, Solomon and Eugenia Szyk in Łódź, Poland, which at the time was part of the Russian Empire. He had his first public art exhibition at age 15, and then went to Paris, France, for formal art training at the Academie Julian. He visited Palestine in 1914 with a group of Polish-Jewish artists and studied Muslim art. Upon his return, he was conscripted into the Russian Army and served in World War I. He married Julia Liekerman in 1916, and they had a son, George, in 1917. In 1918, Poland regained independence, but continued to fight a series of regional wars to secure its boundaries. Between 1919 and 1920, during Poland's war against the Soviet Bolsheviks, Syzk served as a cavalry officer and artistic director of the Department of Propaganda for the Polish Army in Łódź. In 1921, he and his family moved to Paris where his daughter, Alexandra was born the following year. Szyk was well known for his illuminations and book illustrations, in a style reminiscent of Persian miniatures. He worked on several significant projects in France, including illustrating the Statute of Kalisz, the Haggadah, and a series of watercolors on the American Revolutionary War. The themes of his most admired works, democracy and Judaism, were already well established, earning him both fame and significant commissions. In 1934, Szyk traveled to the United States for exhibitions of his work and to receive the George Washington Bicentennial Medal, awarded by the US Congress. He resided in England from 1937-1940 to supervise the publication of the Haggadah. In 1939, following Germany's invasion of Poland, he focused on producing anti-Nazi editorial cartoons published in many Western newspapers and magazines. During the German occupation of Poland, his 70 year old mother, Eugenia, and her Polish companion were forced to live in the Łódź ghetto. In 1943, they were transported to Majdanek concentration camp and killed. In late 1940, Szyk immigrated to the United States with his family. He became a leading anti-Fascist political caricaturist as well as an advocate for Jewish rescue. In addition to his widely published satirical art, Szyk devoted a great deal of time and energy to the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, and pushed for the establishment of an independent Jewish state in Palestine. Szyk received his US citizenship in 1948. In 1951, he was investigated by the United States House Un-American Activities Committee as a suspected Communist. His son, speaking on his behalf, declared his non-affiliation with any Communist organization. Later that year, on September 13, Szyk suffered a heart attack and died at age 57.
The Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe was founded in 1943, by Peter Bergson and other young Jewish activists. The Committee formed in reaction to the first verified information of the Holocaust that reached the United States. On July 20, 1943, the group held the Emergency Conference in New York City, bringing together 1,500 delegates. The Committee was replaced by the American League for a Free Palestine in 1945.
Archival History
The set of stamps was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection
Scope and Content
Row of first-issue poster stamps issued and distributed in February 1944 by the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe, to create public interest in their humanitarian efforts. They were created by Jewish artist, Arthur Szyk, and based off his previous works. The first is copied from a 1942 piece entitled “Tears of Rage,” and depicts a soldier angered at the murder and suffering of Jews by the Nazis. The second and fourth designs, featuring two frightened Jewish children, are excerpts from a 1943 piece entitled “To Be Shot, as Dangerous Enemies of the Third Reich…” The fifth design is copied from a 1943 piece entitled “Modern Moses,” and depicts Moses, a role model for the Zionist movement, flanked by a Jewish soldier and industrial worker. All three figures serve as inspiration for American Jews to make their own contributions to the war effort. Szyk was himself an immigrant born in Łódź, Poland, and lost his mother in the Holocaust. The mission of the Committee was a personal cause for Szyk, and he became one of the founding members. Although they were not valid for postage, poster stamps could be affixed to letters and envelopes as fundraising, propaganda, and educational tools. The Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe was founded in 1943 by Peter H. Bergson (pseudonym for Hillel Kook) and other Jewish activists. The Committee formed in reaction to the first verified information of the Holocaust that reached the United States. On July 20, 1943, the group held the Emergency Conference in New York City, bringing together 1,500 delegates. The Committee was replaced by the American League for a Free Palestine in 1945.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Row of five rectangular poster stamps and a narrow left margin, separated by perforated edges, on beige paper with black printed images. The top and the left edges are perforated, the other edges are not. The image on the leftmost stamp features a screaming soldier holding a submachine gun above his head and cradling a dying, elderly Jewish man holding an elaborate Torah scroll. Depicted directly below them is a man with outstretched hands, a woman holding her dead child, and a sad-looking elderly woman. The second stamp features a Jewish boy and girl, both looking up and to the right with large eyes, and wearing armbands with the Star of David. The third stamp has an elderly Jewish man with a large beard, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and holding up an elaborate Torah scroll. To the left is the head of an elderly woman with a hand on top of the head of a young boy with sidelocks. The fourth stamp features a mirror image of the two children on the second stamp. The rightmost stamp has three figures. On the left is a Jewish soldier with a prayer shawl around his shoulders and holding a rifle. In the center is Moses, with a long beard and his arms raised. On the right is an industrial worker carrying a large wrench on his shoulder. Printed alongside each image is the artist’s signature and date and a small, oval logo. On each stamp, the slogan is printed in black across the top and the distributing organization and their address is printed across the bottom. At the top of the left margin is a small hole and the imprint of a staple.
People
- Szyk, Arthur, 1894-1951.
- Kook, Hillel, 1915-2001.
Corporate Bodies
- Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe
Subjects
- Jews--New York (State)--New York.
- Jews--United States--Charities--Influence.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Foreign public opinion, American.
- New York (N.Y.)
- Anti-Nazi propaganda.
- Anti-Nazi movement.
- United States.
Genre
- Stamps.
- Object
- Posters