Si Lewen

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Si Lewen (born November 8, 1918 in Lublin , Poland - † July 25, 2016 ) was an American painter and former member of the Ritchie Boys , a unit of the United States Army during World War II. Among other things, he processed his war experiences in his works.

Life

Si Lewen was born in 1918 into a Polish-Jewish family who moved to Berlin in 1920. He received drawing lessons from Max Adron, a student of Paul Klee, and from Klaus Richter .

After the seizure of power of Adolf Hitler in 1933 emigrated Lewen with his older brother in France in order to leave the entire family to Palestine to prepare. In 1935 the family unexpectedly received visas for the United States. They arrive in New York City , where Lewen attended an art school. He volunteered for the Army of the United States in 1942 and, because of his knowledge of German, became a member of the Ritchie Boys, a special unit specializing in psychological warfare , propaganda and covert information gathering. When he arrived at the Buchenwald concentration camp , from where he hoped to get information about the whereabouts of relatives and friends, he collapsed under the impression of what he had seen. This inspired him to an artistic appreciation of war and war crimes. After the war, Lewen became a recognized artist in New York.

Art Spiegelmann , comic book author of Mouse - A Survivor's Story published the book Si Lewen's Parade: An Artist's Odyssey in 2016 . It shows a series of drawings that Si Lewen painted from 1950 under the title Parade and published in 1957.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ obituary silewen.org
  2. ^ Refugees in the American Armed Forces during World War II , page 44

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lewen, Si
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American painter and veteran of the Ritchie Boys
DATE OF BIRTH November 8, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Lublin , Poland
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 2016