For whom?109
The twelfth piąte of the portfolio shows an almost full-length portrait of an
invalid (see: Fig. 14). A man dressed in a long soldiers coat and a German army
cap is missing his right leg, which forces him to move on two crutches. With
the limited means, the artist showed a ravaged face with wide open, tired and
anxious eyes.
The work symbolizes the tragedy of the Jewish disabled victims fighting
for the values of the community they lived in, which however turns away from
the minority, leaving it to its own devices. Bohdana Pinczewska believes that
the expressive, broken lines convey despair, which is distorting the face of the one-
legged soldier.110 Szymon Spund saw in this work a metaphor of the situation in
Germany at that time, where, after years of their contributions to the Wilhelminę
Imperial army, Jews became an excluded community, subject to persecutions.111
The content of the work refers to the failure of the nineteenth-century idea
of assimilation, popular among “modern” Jews, and epitomised by the Dreyfus
affair in France.112 The latter event showed that an apparently happy life among
the majority society was not fully feasible, and anti-Semitism rather than having
disappeared, was merely hidden.
Christ in the pogrom district113
In another lithograph (see: Fig. 15), Wilhelm Wachtel referred to the events that
took place at the end of World War 1 in Ukrainę, which had been swept by a wave
of pogroms against the Jewish population.114 The scene shows Christ dressed in
a white tunic and a skullcap, with long hair and a beard, walking barefoot through
the town. On either side of Jesus, sitting in the Street, there are people - three
adults and two children - slouching, with their heads down, held in their hands.
Modest attire, the black robę of the man on the left, and the white tallit-like shawl
covering the old man on the right signify their belonging to the Jewish commu-
nity. The arrangement of the figures of the depicted persons reflects the mood
of resignation, fatigue and worry. In the background we can see damaged houses -
ripped doors, furniture thrown onto the Street, and a broken roof.
The artist placed Christ in the centre of the composition, and he stands out
from the scene with the dominance of white. The Messiah, dressed in a bright
tunic, with a skullcap on his head, gently raises both his hands and puts his left
foot forward, revealing the wounds from the crucifixion. The lowered head and
14. Wilhelm Wachtel, For
whom?, ca. 1935, Museum
of the Borderlands in Luba-
czów, inw. ml/106ia/12.
Photo after: <https://
tinyurl.com/n879x7re>
A see p. 259
15. Wilhelm Wachtel, Christ
in the pogrom district,
no data, Museum of the
Jewish Historical Institute
in Warsaw, inventory no.
mżih A-1320. Photo after:
<https://tinyurl.com/
2mws9b8t>
^see p. 260
109 W. Wachtel, For whom?, ca. 1935, lithograph, 59.5 x 43.5 cm, mkl, inventory no. ml/io6ia/12,
<http://judaika.polin.pl/dmuseion/docmetadata?id=65ó4&show_nav=true> (accessed on
25.04.2020).
110 B. flinneBCbKa, Teopnicmb CopeucbKux xyóoxcnuKio, p. 96.
111 Sz. Spund, Pożegnanie z Golusem, p. 9.
112 A scandal of 1894 related to a false accusation of a French officer of Jewish origin, Alfred Drey-
fus, of being a German spy. Violent dispute between those for and those against Dreyfus led to
troubles in the country, revealed divisions among the French citizens, and became the symbol
of the failure of assimilation tendencies.
113 W. Wachtel, Christ in the pogrom district, no data, mżih, inventory no. mżih A-1320, <http://
judaika.polin.pl/dmuseion/docmetadata?id=i725&show_nav=true> (accessed on 25.04.2020).
Museum of the Borderlands in Lubaczów does not provide access to the scan of this item in
their database.
114 J. Malinowski, Malarstwo i rzeźba Żydów Polskich, p. 306.
Wilhelm Wachtel’s Forewell to Golus
285
The twelfth piąte of the portfolio shows an almost full-length portrait of an
invalid (see: Fig. 14). A man dressed in a long soldiers coat and a German army
cap is missing his right leg, which forces him to move on two crutches. With
the limited means, the artist showed a ravaged face with wide open, tired and
anxious eyes.
The work symbolizes the tragedy of the Jewish disabled victims fighting
for the values of the community they lived in, which however turns away from
the minority, leaving it to its own devices. Bohdana Pinczewska believes that
the expressive, broken lines convey despair, which is distorting the face of the one-
legged soldier.110 Szymon Spund saw in this work a metaphor of the situation in
Germany at that time, where, after years of their contributions to the Wilhelminę
Imperial army, Jews became an excluded community, subject to persecutions.111
The content of the work refers to the failure of the nineteenth-century idea
of assimilation, popular among “modern” Jews, and epitomised by the Dreyfus
affair in France.112 The latter event showed that an apparently happy life among
the majority society was not fully feasible, and anti-Semitism rather than having
disappeared, was merely hidden.
Christ in the pogrom district113
In another lithograph (see: Fig. 15), Wilhelm Wachtel referred to the events that
took place at the end of World War 1 in Ukrainę, which had been swept by a wave
of pogroms against the Jewish population.114 The scene shows Christ dressed in
a white tunic and a skullcap, with long hair and a beard, walking barefoot through
the town. On either side of Jesus, sitting in the Street, there are people - three
adults and two children - slouching, with their heads down, held in their hands.
Modest attire, the black robę of the man on the left, and the white tallit-like shawl
covering the old man on the right signify their belonging to the Jewish commu-
nity. The arrangement of the figures of the depicted persons reflects the mood
of resignation, fatigue and worry. In the background we can see damaged houses -
ripped doors, furniture thrown onto the Street, and a broken roof.
The artist placed Christ in the centre of the composition, and he stands out
from the scene with the dominance of white. The Messiah, dressed in a bright
tunic, with a skullcap on his head, gently raises both his hands and puts his left
foot forward, revealing the wounds from the crucifixion. The lowered head and
14. Wilhelm Wachtel, For
whom?, ca. 1935, Museum
of the Borderlands in Luba-
czów, inw. ml/106ia/12.
Photo after: <https://
tinyurl.com/n879x7re>
A see p. 259
15. Wilhelm Wachtel, Christ
in the pogrom district,
no data, Museum of the
Jewish Historical Institute
in Warsaw, inventory no.
mżih A-1320. Photo after:
<https://tinyurl.com/
2mws9b8t>
^see p. 260
109 W. Wachtel, For whom?, ca. 1935, lithograph, 59.5 x 43.5 cm, mkl, inventory no. ml/io6ia/12,
<http://judaika.polin.pl/dmuseion/docmetadata?id=65ó4&show_nav=true> (accessed on
25.04.2020).
110 B. flinneBCbKa, Teopnicmb CopeucbKux xyóoxcnuKio, p. 96.
111 Sz. Spund, Pożegnanie z Golusem, p. 9.
112 A scandal of 1894 related to a false accusation of a French officer of Jewish origin, Alfred Drey-
fus, of being a German spy. Violent dispute between those for and those against Dreyfus led to
troubles in the country, revealed divisions among the French citizens, and became the symbol
of the failure of assimilation tendencies.
113 W. Wachtel, Christ in the pogrom district, no data, mżih, inventory no. mżih A-1320, <http://
judaika.polin.pl/dmuseion/docmetadata?id=i725&show_nav=true> (accessed on 25.04.2020).
Museum of the Borderlands in Lubaczów does not provide access to the scan of this item in
their database.
114 J. Malinowski, Malarstwo i rzeźba Żydów Polskich, p. 306.
Wilhelm Wachtel’s Forewell to Golus
285