An art exhibit, film screening and book talk highlighting the life and work of Holocaust survivor and artist Joseph Bau will take place this fall at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.
Bau, a graphic artist born in Krakow, Poland, survived the Plaszów concentration camp in part because of his skills in making maps and signs.
More than 40 of Bau’s works are currently on display at the MJCCA in a free exhibition presented in partnership with the Joseph Bau Museum in Tel Aviv. The exhibit runs through December.
Bau was portrayed in Steven Spielberg’s film, “Schindler’s List.”
While imprisoned at Plaszów, Bau also secretly used his artistic skills to help others.
“Working in secret, he forged identity papers for those who were able to escape the camp,” an MJCCA statement said. “Less widely known is the role he played forging documents for the Mossad.”
Bau’s daughters, Clila and Hadasa Bau, co-directors of the Joseph Bau Museum in Tel Aviv, will appear at the 35th edition of the Book Festival of the MJCCA on Nov. 8.
Following a screening of the 2024 film, “Bau, Artist at War,” the sisters will discuss their father’s memoir of the same title and participate in a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Their mother, Rebecca Tennenbaum, was a manicurist to Plaszów commandant Amon Goeth, who was portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in “Schindler’s List.”
After Tennenbaum learned about Schindler’s list, she arranged to have Bau’s name added in place of her own, according to a statement. Bau did not learn what she had done until 50 years later.
“Every time we get to share our parents’ story in a new city, it feels like inviting people into our father’s studio all over again,” Clila and Hadasa Bau said in a statement. “Our father always believed humor and art were forms of resistance, and we’re honored to spend the day with the Atlanta community, signing books, touring the exhibition together and showing them that even in the darkest years, our parents chose to create, to laugh and to love.”
Book Festival co-chair Debbie Kurzweil said bringing the exhibit to Atlanta offers visitors a rare opportunity to experience Bau’s work alongside his family’s account of his life.
“He turned artistic talent into an act of resistance, and then spent the rest of his life creating joy,” Kurzweil said. “To have more than 40 of his original works on our walls, and to have his daughters here in person to walk visitors through them, is a rare gift.”
Visit the MJCCA Book Festival event page for details on attending the film screening and book talk.
