Moshe Leibel, an Artist in the Vapniarka Concentration Camp
Moshe Leibel, an Artist in the Vapniarka Concentration Camp

Summary/Abstract: Vapniarka was a concentration camp in Transnistria, Romania, during the Second World War. Despite the constant threat of death, the camp’s inmates engaged in extensive artistic activities, including drawing, metal processing, and wood carving. This paper aims at drawing attention to the artwork produced in the Vapniarka camp, with a focus on five recently discovered undated drawings signed by Leibel, a camp survivor. Viewed through the perspective of time, an analysis of these drawings as postwar artistic documentation vs. the artistic efforts in real time, provides a detailed outlook on how Jewish artists created art in Vapniarka, and demonstrates the value of art in passing on memories from past to future generations.

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