Propaganda, lisitro the artistic elite and k:aured synagogue in Osnabrued was torched, Jewish them on the Fuhrer's artistic doctrine. "The homes were looted, and all Jewish men were Ary2n race and heroism are the main themes tal::.en TO Dach.1.u. In May 1939, Felix's parents n lcncrs he wrote: during his that the Nazi artist is to del·elop. " Felix decided to leave . They fled to forced exile in Scandiml.\ia, the understood that there was no place for him, as Amsterdam to reunite with Justus, their dder I German pb.}'wright Bcrthol! an artist and a Jew, within the confines of this ",n. BreCht complained about the doctrine. He left by early May and his When Belgium and the Netherlands were sobriquet applied to ~opk IiU: him, who h3d scholarship was revoked a short time later. In occupied in May 1940, Felix was arrested in decided to I(:lllt Germany upon the Nazi his ~urk, 11Jt Great Diswttr, 1939, he: expressed his apartmem and, like all other aliens, men accession to power. "The name they coined his intuition concerning the dra.m3tic change to the Saim Cyprien amp in soothem France. us-elllWanr.r--is fundarm~ntally erroneous, that Hitler's accession h3d wrought-the His imenncm there ~'a$ a personal w3tershed; sin« this was not a voluntary migration for the destruction of Europe 3nd of Western the n Fdix comprehended the rrue extent of purpost offinding an altematr.'C place to srnlc. civilization. moml peril as a Jew under Nazi ru le. He The emigrants found themselvcs nOl a ncw Felix's puents, Philip and Rachel, left expressed this epiphany in his im!X>fUJlt wort, homeland but a place of refuge in exile until Osnabrueck, as did many Jewish inh3birants of The CRmp 5111"909ue III St. CYJ1rien, 1941-a the storm passcs-Dtportccs that's whar we this town. His older brothn, Justus, and his unique work. that symbolizes Felix's realization are, outcasts." family rem3ined to run the fami ly's thriving that he belongs to the JCllish people and is so The fate of artist Felix Nussbaum's family, mettl business. After a brief Stly in Swirzerland, perccived by others. It was his first p2inting on from Osnabruerk, Germany. subsuntiatcs the Felix's parents traveled sooth to m«t with their a JCllish theme in many years. d~t.l.tc efforts to find shdtcr and refuge on beloved son in Rap.aJlo, a fishing town on the In August 1940, in despair after three fOreign soil. II is thI= historyof' one family among Italian Ri>.icra. The sunshine and the ambiance months of suffering under humiliating many that found itself in the maelstrom of of the place cc~pscd the douds of W2t, and the conditions in Saim Cyprien, Felix applied to hopeless flight. Nussbaums~m the summerof I934togethcr, return to Germany. When he reached the Philip Nussbaum, Felix's father, was a proud in what would be Felix's last encounter with check.point at BordC2ux, he decided to escape Ge rman patriOi who bdongcd to the his parents. His up~fted mood is expressed in b)' boarding a passenger train to ., ~ ory-niution of World War I veterans. When the joyous, carcfr« colors of his worb during he would be reunited with his belOI'ed wife. the new n:gimc came to power, he had 10 this time, e.g., The ikllw III RllpRUD, 1934. From 1940 on, Felix Nussbaum lived in hiding surrender his mcm~rship. In his parting In 1935, his parents succumbed to their ~ith no source of ~ \'dihood. His Bdgim tnends remarks, he said, " ... for the last time, dear nosnI!9a for Germany and expresstd their wish met his needs and even prolided him lI'ith a comrades in arms, I salute: rou as a kY,'aI.soIdicr... to return to thcir homeland, despite the fierce studio and art supplies. Lacking raideoc)' papers And if again I am caJkd to the flag, I am !'tidy objections of thcir SOIl, Felix, who m\TOte the and in continual danger of being discOl'ered, and willing." last line in his ftther's parting poem: ..... and Felix lTlO\'Cd from his hideout a.partnw::m to his At that time, his son, the artist Felix, ~'a$ if again I am called to the flag.. I ~ill descn to studio and back., pursuing his artistic endeavors in Rome ~ith a small group of German students a far away place for sure." It was the only time \limt respite. The themes of concern to him at an extension of the Academy of the he objected to the \;ews ofhis father, his$OUl'CC wm fear, persrcution,and the CW3C that loomed Arts, after ~inning a prestigious scholarship. of spiritual and economic support. over the family's members. In Apri11933, Gocbbds, Hitler's Minister of The family members parted ways. Ftlix and The fate of the expanded Nussbaum family his lifc parmer, Fdka Platek. decided not to was staled. In August 1943, the protcction return to Gennany. They fint went to Paris in given to employees ofJUStu$ Nussbaum's scr.tp. January 1935 and then to the Belgian resort town of Ostcnd e. Sel'eral months 13te r, they II moved in \\;Ih friends in Brussels. There, in October 1937, they married. Felix 's brother JUStuS, was forced to emigraTe in 1937 when all Jewish bu sinesse s in Osnabrueck. we re Aryanized. Justus, his \life, and thcirtwo"rcar-<>ld daughter, Marianne, metal business ~'a$ revoked. Justus, his ~ifc , Bed to the Netherlands on 2 1u ly of that year. their daughter Marianne, and the Nussbaum There, together with StI'cral additional forced parents \I'Crt arrested in their hideout apanmcnrs migranrs, he managed TO C$f2blish a scrap-mct.l! and scm to Westerbork.. Half a year later, on compa.ny. Ftbruary 8, 1944, Philip and Rachel Nussbaum, In the meantime, the situation in Germany the artist's parems, were deponed from was deteriorating. On Kristallnacht, the Wcsterbork. to Auschwitz. 10 On 20 July 1944, Felix and Felka we re This chronology manifests the extirpation lurk outside. Sctmingly, the artist already knew arrested in their hideout and SCnt to Mcchelcn of one family that, despite years offlight, could the final outcome, that no member ofhis family camp. Luer th3t month they were deported to not escape the long talons of the Nazi beast. would sun~\'e the inferno. Felix endured for Auschwitz, where Felix Nussbaum was Europe had become enemy territory. Nussbaum almost a full decade, against all odds, but he, murdered on 9 August. His olde r brother, expressed the motif of dead end in an early too, was murdered a month bcfure the ~berntion Justus Nussbaum, was transported from work, European Vision-The Refllget, 1939. of Brussels. However, his works continue to Westerbork to Auschwitz on September 3. The Jewish refugee, holding his head in his tell his story, that of his family, and that of the Three days later, Herta, Felix's sister-in-law, hands, finds no shelter OIl the threatening globe, fate of the Jewish people. and Marianne, his niece, were murdered in which stands on the table. The entrance to the Ausch"'~tz. In late Cktobcr 1944, JustuS was room, wide open, p ro\~des no source of hope TIlt alit/lOT is SttIior Curtltora!tht Tali V/Uhtm sent to the Stutthof camp, where he died of tither. Symbols of extinction-a tree shedding Art MUStulIJ exhaustion some two months later. its Ieayes and hovering r3yens over a corpse-

That's What We Are, Outcasts"(B. Brecht) Felix Nussbaum-The Artist and His Family In Hopeless Flight 11