David Olere is a well-known artist whose work testifies to the atrocities of the Holocaust. He is the only professional artist among the known survivors of Jews who worked in the gas chambers and crematoria of the Nazi camps. The horrors he witnessed are incomprehensible. As such, his work can be seen as an expression of eyewitness testimony. He did not sketch for enjoyment; he sketched in testimony to all those victims who never came back.

Instructions:On a separate sheet of paper:• Write the title of each image.• Examine each image thoughtfully. • Write one sentence describing what you SEE -

What small details can you find? • Write one sentence explaining what you FEEL -

What emotions does the artwork evoke?• Write 2-3 sentences that make connections.

Write down similarities or differences to Elie Wiesel and his experiences as told in Night.

• Your total written response should be 4-5 sentences for each picture.

UNABLE TO WORK Inability to work was often an immediate death sentence. In the background, smoke rises from

the crematorium to form the letters SS.

BURYING THE REMAINS OF CHILDREN Olere’s first assignment at Auschwitz was as a grave digger for small children. It must have been one of the most painful jobs assigned to Olere. His tattoo of his prisoner number can

be seen on his left arm.

ARRIVAL OF A CONVOY A new convoy arrives in the background as inmates struggle with a cart carrying away

corpses from a previous convoy.

GASSING The container in the lower right is labeled Zyklon B.

Olere was occasionally forced to help empty the gas chambers. The victims were often found half-squatting, their skin colored pink with red and green spots, some foaming at the mouth or bleeding from

the ears.