Werner Heymann survived the concentration camp in Auschwitz, among other things. What helped him survive: The man from Krefeld, who was Jewish, had a great talent for playing the accordion, which he used to entertain his tormentors.
An exhibition with illustrations is now being held in his honor: Tuesday, January 30, at 6:30 pm at Villa Merländer, Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 42 in Krefeld. From then on, the impressive works by students from The Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) will be on display until February 6 (Monday to Friday from 9 am to 3 pm).
Three budding communication designers from the HSNR have artistically explored Heymann's biography, which was published as a book by the NS documentation center in 2008. Their aim: to sensitize the younger generation to the topic. In his biography entitled "My Sky Blue Accordion - Memories of a Krefeld Auschwitz Survivor", Heymann describes his life before, during and after the Nazi dictatorship.
In view of the fact that there are only a few living witnesses, it is becoming increasingly important to preserve the memory of the atrocities of National Socialism. With this in mind, Jochen Stücke, HSNR professor of Drawing, Illustration and Artistic Printmaking at the Faculty of Design, offered his students a free course: They were to graphically prepare the Heymann texts on his life story. The challenge: to develop a visual language that contributes didactically to the receptiveness of readers and viewers.
The students Jessica Bayerlein (Haltern am See), Jana Zaitz (Geldern) and Markus Gansel (Mülheim an der Ruhr) used drawing, painting, printmaking and digital media for their presentation.
"We live in times that make it depressingly clear how indispensable a culture of remembrance is that anchors the crimes of National Socialist rule in the consciousness of future generations," says Prof. Jochen Stücke.
January 30 was deliberately chosen for the presentation: On this day in 1933, Reich President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor. The painter Max Liebermann watched the SA torchlight procession through the Brandenburg Gate from his apartment on Pariser Platz. He came up with the legendary quote: "I can't eat as much as I want to vomit."
This project is dedicated to him, Heymann and all victims of National Socialism. It was created in cooperation with the Nazi Documentation Center and the Villa Merländer e.V. association.
