Containing the Past: Edith Kiss’s Deportation and Jewish Experiences at Ravensbrück

Abstract

Abstract:The artist Edith Kiss (1905–1966) was deported from Hungary to Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1944. After liberation, she returned to Hungary and created a series of 30 gouache paintings portraying her experiences. These artworks, which were exhibited in 1945 as Deportation, have so far attracted little attention. This scholarly essay will analyze the insights Deportation and other oeuvres by Kiss can provide on Jewish identity and experience at Ravensbrück. Deportation is compared with representations of Ravensbrück made by the French political prisoners France Audoul, Jeannette L’Herminier, and Violette Rougier-Lecoq.