Portrait

Identifier
irn4568
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1991.158.84
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

overall: Height: 14.500 inches (36.83 cm) | Width: 19.500 inches (49.53 cm)

pictorial area: Height: 10.000 inches (25.4 cm) | Width: 7.620 inches (19.355 cm)

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Bill Spira, a cartoonist, was also known as Bil Freier. He was originally from Austria. During the Holocaust he forged passports for the Emergency Rescue Committee. Despite Varian Fry's (an American ERC representative) intervention, he was arrested and deported to Auschwitz. He survived the camp.

Miriam Davenport Ebel (1915-1999) was born Miriam Davenport in Boston, studied art and architecture history at Smith College, New York University, and the University of Paris, and escaped to Toulouse and then Marseille during the German invasion in May 1940. She worked with Varian Fry at the Centre Américain de Secours, a cover for the Emergency Rescue Committee, helping to smuggle antifascist artists, writers, and intellectuals out of Europe. She joined her fiancé in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, in October, returned to the United States via Lisbon just after Pearl Harbor, and continued to work for relief, rescue, and refugee organizations. After the war she pursued her career in painting and sculpture and as an instructor in art and French. She married Charles Ebel (1937-2013) in the 1960s.

Archival History

The portrait was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1991 by Miriam Davenport Ebel.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Miriam Davenport Ebel

Scope and Content

Portrait of Miriam Devenport Ebel created by Bil Frier.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Matted. This portrait was reproduced on the jacket of Surrender on Demand.

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.