Effim Bruhis

Effim Bruhis was born in Odessa to a family of Jewish intellectuals. His father was a pharmacist who took care of his son's Jewish and general education. His artistic talent was evident from an early age when he created figures from clay, so he was sent to study at the Academy of Art in Odessa where he specialized in sculpture. His father was killed during the 1917 revolution. This was very traumatic for Bruhis who had been very close to him. He left the Academy and, after a brief stay in Kishinev, moved to Berlin. During his year there he concentrated on sculpture and design. In 1922 he moved to Paris to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He married a Swiss Jew and worked in the decorative arts, as well as drawing and sculpture.

In 1941 Bruhis was arrested and interned in Compiègne. He continued with his art, however, and exhibited his works along with other artists interned there, including Jacques Gotko, David Goychman, Savely Schleifer and Isis Kischka. From Compiègne Bruhis was transferred to Drancy and from there, on 14 September 1941, to the death camps in the East.

(Dr Pnina Rosenberg)

References

Hirsh Fenster. Undzere Farpainikte Kinstler (Nos artistes martyrs). Published by the author, Paris, 1951.

Serge Klarsfeld. Memorial to the Jews Deported from France 1942-1944. Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, New York, 1983.