Menachem Birnbaum (born 1893 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, died probably 1944), was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

book

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

and

portrait painter Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

Life

Birnbaum was the second son of the Jewish philosopher

Nathan Birnbaum Nathan Birnbaum (; pseudonyms: "Mathias Acher", "Dr. N. Birner", "Mathias Palme", "Anton Skart", "Theodor Schwarz", and "Pantarhei"; 25 April 1864 – 4 April 1937) was an Austrian writer and journalist, Jewish thinker and nationalist. His life ...

and his wife Rosa Korngut. Birnbaum married Ernestine (Tina) Esther Helfmann, with whom he had two children: Rafael Zwi and Hana. Birnbaum lived in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

from 1911 until 1914, and again from 1919 until 1933.

Exile, deportation and death

In 1933 he emigrated to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In the spring of 1943 he was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

along with his relatives and transported on 10 March 1943 to a Nazi concentration camp, presumably

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. Menachem was seen alive and spoken to in Auschwitz in October 1944 by a Dutch Jewish survivor, who told about it to his brother Uriel Birnbaum in Holland after WW2. He must therefore have died between October 1944 and January 27, 1945, when Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets. His family - Tina, Rafael Zwi, and Hana Birnbaum - were killed earlier, probably in Auschwitz as well. It is likely that he died during or just before the Death March from Auschwitz in mid-January, 1945. This would mean that the theory of him dying in March 1943 in the

Sobibor extermination camp Sobibor ( ; ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), ...

is incorrect, a theory based solely on an unconfirmed assumption by the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

that the trains from the German holding camp at

Westerbork Camp Westerbork (, , Drents: ''Börker Kamp; Kamp Westerbörk''), also known as Westerbork transit camp, was a Nazi transit camp in the province of Drenthe in the Northeastern Netherlands, during World War II. It was located in the municipality ...

, Holland were sent to Sobibor on the day of his arrest and deportation.

Works

* ''Das Hohe Lied'' (The High Song), Berlin 1912 * ''Der Aschmedaj'' (Humorous periodical), Berlin-Warsaw 1912 * '' Schlemiel'' (Humorous periodical), Berlin 1919-1920 (Schriftleitung des künstlerischen Teils) * ''Chad Gadjo'', Berlin 1920 * ''Chad Gadjo'', Scheveningen 1935 * ''Menachem Birnbaum Zeigt'', Den Haag 1937 * Numerous book cover/jacket designs, portrait drawings.

Literature

Kitty Zijlmans C. J. M. "Kitty" Zijlmans (born 2 March 1955) is a Dutch art historian. She was professor of art history at Leiden University between 2000 and 2021. She has been mostly focused on visual arts and intercultural exchange. Life and career Zijlmans ...

, ''Jüdische Künstler im Exil: Uriel und Menachem Birnbaum''; in: Hans Wuerzner (Hg.), ''Österreichische Exilliteratur in den Niederlanden 1934-1940'', Amsterdam 1986

References

External links

*
''Das jüdische Jugendbuch''
a digitized children's book illustrated by Birnbaum at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

Books, Tombstones, and Upside Down Letters: Two Weeks at the Jewish Library of Buchen
Mention in an article about German Jewish visual history, 2025, Liad Shadmi {{DEFAULTSORT:Birnbaum, Menachem 1893 births 1944 deaths Artists from Vienna Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust 20th-century Austrian painters Austrian people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Austrian illustrators Jewish Austrian painters