Heinz Kiwitz (September 4, 1910 – 1938) was a German artist. His

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s were in the

German Expressionist German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

style. An anti-fascist, he was arrested following the Nazis' seizure of power. He survived imprisonment in Kemna and Börgermoor concentration camps and was released in 1934. He went into exile in 1937, first living in Denmark, then in France, where he again began to fight Nazism. In 1938, he went to Spain to fight in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, where he apparently perished.

Early years

Kiwitz was born the son of a book printer and was exposed to the graphic arts from an early age.Siegfried Gnichwitz
"Heinz Kiwitz: gekämpft · vertrieben · verschollen"
(PDF) Stiftung Brennender Dornbusch. Folder from an exhibition in honor of the 100th anniversary of Kiwitz' birth. Liebfrauenkirche, Duisburg (November 7 – December 5, 2010), p. 2. Retrieved February 10, 2012 He had an older sister, Änne, and a younger sister, Gertrude, called Trudel.Anne Kiwitz
"Privates" 1930 photo and reminiscence
Heinz Kiwitz. Retrieved February 13, 2012 From early on, he loved to draw, but was not good in math. At the age of 10, he drew his older sister's art assignments and she received top grades. When he was 17 and stood , he joined a boxing club and trained at home, causing the furniture to shake when he jumped rope inside. In 1927, he began studying art with

Karl Rössing Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

at the

Folkwang University of the Arts The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in E ...

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

. His long-time friend,

Günther Strupp Günther Strupp (March 6, 1912 – 1996) was a German artist, illustrator, and art director. He was a survivor of Kemna concentration camp and of Gestapo imprisonment in Stadelheim Prison. Life and work Strupp was born in Johannisburg in Masur ...

also attended the school and was a student of Rössing's. He was a member of the

Association of Revolutionary Visual Artists The Association of Revolutionary Visual Artists of Germany (German: ''Assoziation revolutionärer bildender Künstler Deutschlands'', or ARBKD) was an organization of artists who were members of the Communist Party of Germany (''Kommunistische Parte ...

during this period.

Work and anti-fascist resistance

In art school, he preferred to create

wood engraving Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and ...

s, but after finishing, Kiwitz began working more with woodcuts, which entailed a process more suited to his temperament.Gnichwitz
p. 7
(PDF) He and Strupp went to

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

for a few months and later, he went to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

to pursue work and further study. In April 1932, his woodcut illustrations for a satirical poem by

Erich Weinert Erich Bernhard Gustav Weinert (4 August 1890 in Magdeburg – 20 April 1953 in East Berlin) was a German Communist writer and a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Early life Weinert was born in 1890 in Magdeburg to a family supp ...

were published along with the poem in ''Magazin für Alle''.Gnichwitz
p. 3
(PDF) He also made a woodcut decrying the

Nazi book burnings The Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the German Student Union (, ''DSt'') to ceremonially burn books in Nazi Germany and Austria in the 1930s. The books targeted for burning were those viewed as being subversive or as representin ...

and one that features

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

s of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

and Göring (see illustration).Gnichwitz
pp. 4–5
(PDF) In early 1933, after the Nazis seized power, Kiwitz' studio was ransacked by the

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

(SA) and he left Berlin, returning to his parents' home. He also visited his girlfriend, who as a Communist and political enemy of the Nazis, had been arrested and thrown in prison. Shortly after, in summer 1933, he also was arrested and thrown in Kemna concentration camp for "antifascist activity" and having produced "work critical of society". From Kemna, he was later transferred to Börgermoor concentration camp. After his release in June 1934, he sought to protect himself from further arrest by destroying the majority of his political artwork and confining his illustrations to literary themes. He described himself as a "Nazi-coerced-towards-harmless-themes-political-journalist." He returned to Berlin in 1935, where he worked for the publisher

Ernst Rowohlt Ernst R. Rowohlt (23 June 1887 in Bremen – 1 December 1960 in Hamburg) was a German publisher who founded the Rowohlt publishing house in 1908 and headed it and its successors until his death. In 1912 he married actress Emmy Reye, but the marr ...

. He designed covers for books by

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of ...

and created illustrations for a novel by

Hans Fallada Hans Fallada (; born Rudolf Wilhelm Friedrich Ditzen; 21 July 18935 February 1947) was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include '' Little Man, What Now?'' (1932) and ''Every Man Dies Alone'' ...

; he also made woodcuts illustrating

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

, and

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...

's "Die Historie von der schönen Lau", among others."Gekämpft, vertrieben, verschollen"
''Rheinische Post'' (November 6, 2010). Retrieved February 10, 2012 As a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, Kiwitz saw little future and only danger for himself in Germany. In 1937, with help from Rowohlt, he managed to flee to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, where he met

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

. His residence permit, just three months, was not renewed, forcing him to leave. He then went to Paris, where he again began to fight fascism. An organization of exiled German artists, the

Union des Artistes Allemands Libres The Union des Artistes Allemands Libres was a federation of exiled German artists living in Paris, France, after the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the establishment of the Third Reich after the Nazis seized power. It was founded in autumn 193 ...

, was founded in autumn 1937 and Kiwitz became an early member. The group organized an exhibit called "Five Years of Hitler Dictatorship", (''Fünf Jahre Hitler-Diktatur'') held at a local union hall. He worked on the exhibition and contributed to the exhibition brochure, ''Cinq Ans de Dictateure Hitlerienne'', cutting out a piece of

linoleum Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), Pine Resin, pine resin, ground Cork (material), cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most com ...

flooring from under his bed and making

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum s ...

s depicting torture, courtroom trials and

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Also while in Paris, he made a woodcut about the

Bombing of Guernica On 26 April 1937, the Basque town of Guernica (''Gernika'' in Basque) was aerial bombed during the Spanish Civil War. It was carried out at the behest of Francisco Franco's rebel Nationalist faction by its allies, the Nazi German Luftwaffe's ...

and other alleged war crimes. Letters to his parents during this time do not mention his political activities, but a request for a sum of money (10

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...

) indicates his financial status was precarious. Kiwitz worked for the emigrant press while in Paris and on August 27, 1937, published his ''Absage eines deutschen Künstlers an Hitler'' ("Renunciation of Hitler by a German Artist") in a Paris newspaper. In 1938, he went to Spain to fight against

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

in the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

. He is known to have participated in the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro ( es, Batalla del Ebro, ca, Batalla de l'Ebre) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between Ju ...

, but then all trace of him vanishes. He is presumed to have been killed there.Thomas Becker
"Willkommen im Club"
''Der Westen'' (October 7, 2008). Retrieved February 11, 2012

Open letter to Hitler

The text of Kiwitz' 1937 open letter of renunciation to Hitler printed below was printed in a German-language exile newspaper in Paris.Heinz Kiwitz

reprinted from ''Pariser Tageszeitung'', Vol. 2, No. 440 (August 27, 1937). Retrieved February 11, 2012

Recognition

Kiwitz is grouped with

Wilhelm Lehmbruck Wilhelm Lehmbruck (4 January 188125 March 1919) was a German sculptor. Biography Born in Meiderich (part of Duisburg from 1905), he was the fourth of eight children born to the miner Wilhelm Lehmbruck and his wife Margaretha. He was able to stu ...

and

August Kraus August Friedrich Johann Kraus (9 July 1868, Ruhrort - 8 February 1934, Berlin) was a German sculptor. Life He was the son of a coachman. In 1877, the family moved to Baden-Baden where he became an apprentice to a headstone sculptor. His family ...

as one of the most important 20th-century artists from Duisburg. In 1962, the Städtisches Kunstmuseum (City Art Museum) in Duisburg had an exhibit of Kiwitz' work and in 1992, the

Lehmbruck Museum The Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum - Center for International Sculpture is a museum in Duisburg, Germany. Sculptures by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, after whom the museum is named, make up a large part of its collection. However, the museum has a sub ...

in Duisburg had an exhibit called "Heinz Kiwitz Druckgraphik". From April 1983 to April 1984, there was a traveling exhibit of Kiwitz' work. Called "Heinz Kiwitz : Holzschnitte, Linolschnitte und Zeichnungen", the exhibit started in

Lüdenscheid Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Geography Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the Lenne and Volme rivers which b ...

, then moved to

Telgte Telgte (German pronunciation: �tɛlktə regionally �tɛlçtə is a town in the Warendorf district, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the river Ems 12 km east of Münster and 15 km west of Warendorf. Telgte is famous as a place of ...

, then to the Städtisches Museum in

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...

and then finished at the Galerie im Theater in

Gütersloh Gütersloh () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 100,194 peo ...

. There is a street in Duisburg named Heinz-Kiwitz-StrasseStadtplan – Duisburg – Heinz-Kiwitz-Str
Stadtplan Duisburg. Retrieved February 10, 2012 in his honor in 2005. In 2010, in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Brennender Dornbusch Foundation organized an exhibit of Kiwitz' work at the Liebfrauenkirche in Duisburg. His younger sister, Trudel Siepmann, attended the opening.

Works (selected)

* Cover for German edition:

, ''

Light in August ''Light in August'' is a 1932 novel by the Southern American author William Faulkner. It belongs to the Southern gothic and modernist literary genres. Set in the author's present day, the interwar period, the novel centers on two strangers, a ...

'', Rowohlt Verlag Berlin (1935) * Cover and illustrations:

, ''Märchen vom Stadtschreiber, der aufs Land flog'', Rowohlt Verlag Berlin (1935) * ''Enaks Geschichten'', a story in woodcuts, foreword by Hans Fallada, Rowohlt Verlag Berlin (1936) * Cover illustration for German edition: William Faulkner, ''Pylon'' (German: ''Wendemarke''), Verlag Berlin (1936)

Notes

References

External links

Heinz Kiwitz
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiwitz, Heinz Kemna concentration camp survivors German illustrators German people of the Spanish Civil War International Brigades personnel 1910 births 1938 deaths Börgermoor concentration camp survivors