Jacques Gotko
1900-1943
Gotko was born in 1900 in Odessa. In 1905 his family emigrated to Paris, due to fear of pogroms. His father, a factory worker, died eight years later, leaving a widow and two small children. Despite the family's difficult financial position, Gotko was sent to study architecture and scenery design at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. On completing his studies he was employed as a film set designer. His paintings were well received and exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, the Salon des Indépendants and other prestigious galleries. Despite financial and artistic success, Gotko left Paris in 1935, moving to the small town of Charente, where he devoted all his time and energies to painting. He was very close to his mother and sister and they came to live near Gotko and his French wife. On 26 April 1939 an exhibition of his Charente watercolours was held at Galerie Jeanne Castelle in Paris. This was his last exhibition.
In July 1941 Gotko was arrested as a Russian subject, released after a few days, and then re-arrested, this time as a Jew. He was sent to Compiègne and all the "degenerate" paintings in his studio in Charente were destroyed by the Nazis. While in Compiègne, and later in Drancy, he continued his artistic activities, producing woodcuts, drawings and watercolours. But his reputation was first and foremost as a portrait painter. Whatever income he made from commissions was sent to his wife. Some time after he was sent to Drancy, Gotko's mother and sister were also interned in the camp and he witnessed their deportation to Auschwitz in November 1942. He never got over this tragic event. On 31 July 1943 Gotko too was sent to Auschwitz where he soon died of typhus.
Some of the works Gotko produced in the camps came into the possession of fellow internees, such as the artist Isis Kischka or the scientist and historian Georges Wellers. They later donated them to the art collection of Beit Lohamei Haghetaot (Ghetto Fighters' House Museum). Others works by Gotko are in the collection of the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine in Paris.
(Dr Pnina Rosenberg)
References
Memorial in Honour of Jewish Artists, Victims of Nazism. The Oscar Ghez Foundation, University of Haifa, no date.
Hirsh Fenster. Undzere Farpainikte Kinstler (Nos artistes martyrs). Published by the author, Paris, 1951.
Georges Wellers. Un juif sous Vichy. Editions Thirésias, Michel Reunaud, Paris, 1991 (re-edition of du L'Etoile jaune &qgrave; l'heure de Vichy. Fayard, Paris, 1973 and De Drancy à Auschwitz. Centre de Documentation Juive contemporaine, Paris, 1946.)
Miriam Novitch. Spiritual Resistance – 120 Drawings from Concentration Camps and Ghettos 1940-1945. The Commune of Milan, Milan, 1979.
Miriam Novitch. Spiritual Resistance: Art from Concentration Camps 1940-1945 - A selection of drawings and paintings from the collection of Kibbutz Lohamei Haghetaot. Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981.
Kenneth E. Silver and Romy Golan. The Circle of Montparnasse: Jewish Artists in Paris 1905-1945. The Jewish Museum, Universe Books, New York, 1985.
Résistance-Déportation: Création dans le bruit des armes. Chancelerie de l'Ordre de la Libération. Paris, 1980.
Seize peintres de Paris. Petit Palais, Gen"ve, 1971.
L'Internement des juifs sous Vichy. Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine, Paris, 1996.
Inscribed, lower middle: Front-Stalag 122, Compiegne. Signed and dated, lower right: Gotko, 1942
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 88.
Donated by Isis Kischka, Paris, 1970
A. Alpérine was an internee in the "Russian Camp" (Blocks C-3, C-4) in Compiègne. Russian internees ('white' and 'red'), including Jews, were brought there in June 1941, immediately after Germany declared war on the USSR. Alpérine, transferred from Drancy, was the leading spirit of the camp. He organised mutual aid (sharing food, medicines and underground mail) and gave great assistance to the "Notables" - the elite of French Jewry - who were interned in December 1941 - despite a warning from the Germans that anyone caught assisting these Jews would be severely punished. Inmates of the "Jewish camp" have described the bravery of his actions. He was released from the camp at the end of 1942 and returned to Paris, working alongside David Rapoport (1883, Proskorov, Russia - 1944, Auschwitz) organising Jewish welfare, hiding-places for Jewish children whose parents were interned in camps, and welfare for the Jewish inmates of camps and their families. The organisation, known as 'Rue Amelot' after the street in which it was located, was disguised as a mother and baby clinic and summer camp for school children.
Inscription in the block (in French), lower left: à Alpérine. Signed in block, lower right: gotko. Inscribed (in French), under print: lino gravé au camp de Compiègne 1941-42, remis par Kischka [linoleum print in Compiègne 1941-42, given by Kischka]
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1701.
Donated by Isis Kisckha, Paris, 1969
This work commemorates the anniversary of being interned in the camp. The inmates listed were interned on 21 May 1941 in the "Billet Vert" operation, being summoned to a Parisian police station and then sent to Compiègne. The work contains the signatures of various inmates and the numbers given to them by the camp: Isis Kischka 787 122; A. Leon 2203; Zladin 1381; Goychman 356; Curfist 1379; Rivinof 797; S. Max 388; Berliner 369; S. Schleifer 163; A. Berline 944; K. Kirschenstein 1152; Herzberg 1061. On the back of the work, in the lower part, is an inscription in French: Pour remettre à Mme. Salomon Kraczmen, parvenir par un mot Mme Kraczmen, 7 av. de l'Entent à Sartrouville, que tu viens la voir un Dimanche que to lui indiquera (vas-y avec Gaby), elle sera content et son mari aussi [to hand over to Mrs. Salomon Kraczman, 7 av. de L'Entenete in Satrouville. Please visit her on a Sunday at her convenience (go there with Gaby). She and her husband will be very pleased]
Inscribed and dated (in French), upper right: Quand même, 21 mai 1942 [in spite of everything, 21 May 1942]. Signed, lower right: Gotko, 1496 [his camp number]
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1940.
Donated by Isis Kischka, Paris, 1969
Georges Wellers, who became friendly with Gotko in Drancy, wrote: A Drancy, pour faire venir le matérial nécessaire, il fallait obtenirune autorisation spécial et il était interditde faire de la peinture en dehors des chambrées. C'est la raison pour laquelle, à Drancy, Gotkone fit que des portraits au crayons et rarement à la gouache. A ma connaissance, il commençaun seul tableau: l'interieur d'une cuisine. [In Drancy you had to ask for special permission to get painting materials. It was not permitted to paint outside the rooms. This was the reason why Gotko only did portraits in pencil and only rarely painted in gouache. As far as I know he began with one painting: the interior of a Kitchen.] (George Wellers. De Drancy à Auschwitz. Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine, Paris, 1946, p.182.)
Signed, lower right: Gotko. Also signed by other inmates, including J. Rosenthal, I. Kischka and Rivinof. Inscribed (in French) upper left, middle and lower right: 1er jour de l'an 1943, cuisine 4, Drancy [The first day in 1943, kitchen no. 4, Drancy]
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1703.
Inscribed (in French), lower part: Ce calque de lithographie a été executé par Gotko au camp de Compiègne en 1942. Je le tiens de Gotko lui-même. Prof. G. Wellers, Paris le 2 novembre 1977. [The copy of this lithograph was done by Gotko in Compiègne in 1942, I received it from Gotko himself. Prof. G Wellers, Paris, 2 November 1977]
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1797.
Donated by Professor Georges Wellers, Paris, 1977
Inscribed (in French), lower part: Ce calque de lithographie a été fait par Gotko en 1942 au camp de Compiègne. Je le tiens de Gotko lui-même. Prof. G. Wellers, Paris le 2 novembre 1977. [The copy of this lithograph was done by Gotko in 1942 in Compiègne, I received it from Gotko himself. Prof. G Wellers, Paris, 2 November 1977]
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1793.
Donated by Professor Georges Wellers, Paris, 1977
Georges Wellers (1905, Russia - 1991, Paris) was a scientist holding a high post at the Faculty of Medicine in Paris. Wellers, who did not receive any Jewish education and was an atheist, was arrested and interned in Compiègne in December 1941 as one of the Jewish "Notables". From Compiègne, he was transferred to Drancy and later to Auschwitz and Buchenwald. In 1945 he returned to Paris, dedicating a great deal of his time to the research and documentation of the persecution of the Jews and the "Final Solution". Based on his own, and fellow inmates, experiences as well as documentary evidence, his research resulted in numerous books and articles.
Inscribed (in French), lower right: Portrait de Georges Wellers par GOTKO, remis par KISCHKA, [Portrait of Georges Wellers, done by Gotko, given by Kischka]
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1699.
Donated by Isis Kischka, Paris, 1970
Inscribed (in French), lower right: Portrait de KISCHKA par GOTKO, camp de Drancy en 1942, [Portrait of KISCHKA, done by GOTKO in Drancy in 1942]
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1696.
Donated by Isis Kischka, Paris, 1970
Abraham Kigner perished in the death camps in Eastern Europe.
Georges Wellers wrote about the preparatory drawings for portraits of the inmates done by Gotko: Il travaillait lentement, avec beaucoup de soin. Si le "modèle" l'intéressait, alors il lui fallait plusieurs séances de pose et chacune durait parfois deux heures. [Gotko worked slowly and meticulously. If the "model" captured his interest, he asked him to sit for him many times, each sitting lasting about two hours.] (Georges Wellers. De Drancy à Auschwitz. Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine, Paris, 1946, p. 182.)
Signed and dated, lower right: Gotko, 42. Inscribed (in French), lower middle: Esquise pour le portrait de A. KIGNER, certifié par KISCHKA, [Preparatory drawing for the portrait of A. KIGNER, confirmed by KISCHKA]
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1698.
Donated by Isis Kischka, Paris, 1970
Signed and dated, lower right: Gotko, 42
© Beit Lohamei Haghetaot
Museum Number 1700.
Donated by Isis Kischka, Paris, 1970