Op Ed
In his JNS op-ed, B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin reflects on “Bau, Artist at War,” a film that brings to light the remarkable lives of Joseph and Rebecca Bau. Their survival, artistry and contributions to the State of Israel illustrate the resilience of the Jewish people—and the enduring relevance of their story.
Read the full piece at JNS.org.
“Bau, Artist at War,” tells the story of graphic artist Joseph Bau, interned in the Krakow-Plaszów concentration camp from 1942 to 1945, and his wife, Rebecca Tennenbaum.
One word that enters into untold numbers of post-Oct. 7 conversations is “resilience.”
Notwithstanding the constantly hovering shadow of the brutality committed against Israelis that day, the word speaks to their seemingly innate ability to get up each morning and go about the task of living their lives in the Jewish state. New high-tech start-ups appear, new medical advances are announced, restaurants open, artists continue to paint and even comedians have found their way to break the ice of ongoing trauma and hurt.
The word resilience also comes to mind about a forthcoming film, “Bau, Artist at War,” which will premiere this month in Los Angeles. It tells the story of graphic artist Joseph Bau (1920-2002), interned in the Krakow-Plaszów concentration camp from 1942 to 1945, and his wife, Rebecca Tennenbaum (1918-1997).
You may recall some of Bau’s story, which is touched upon in the movie “Schindler’s List.” He had a special talent for Gothic lettering, a style favored by the Nazis, working directly for the camp commander Amon Goeth. That work spared his life, though it was, like with all prisoners, lived on the edge.
At the same time, he was forging documents for prisoners who sought to escape the camp. To bolster the morale of his fellow prisoners, Bau secretly drew miniature cards with upbeat messages and illustrations that circulated throughout the camp. He also wrote poetry.
Any of this surreptitious activity could have resulted in his losing his life on the spot.
You may recall the scene in “Schindler’s List” of a secret marriage; it was the wedding of Joseph and Rebecca, who met at the concentration camp, and which took place in the women’s barracks. A dramatic love story, for sure. They were a remarkable couple, living for each other and for their fellow prisoners.
Bau was ultimately sent to Oskar Schindler’s Brunnlitz forced labor camp, and Rebecca to Auschwitz (where, in her own right, she sought to save lives).
With the film about to open, I’ll not reveal exactly how, but they both managed to survive. Played by actors in “Schindler’s List,” the real Joseph and Rebecca are seen as the movie ends, placing stones on the Oskar Schindler’s grave in the Mount Zion Franciscan Cemetery in Jerusalem.
The Baus made their way to Israel in 1950, where Joseph opened a studio in Tel Aviv. Over the years, he created the artwork for many of Israel’s iconic advertising campaigns. He was an animator; many have called him Israel’s Walt Disney. When he didn’t have or couldn’t find the right equipment to carry out his work, he invented it. His artwork was insightful and whimsical—the kind that, when you saw it for the first time, you just knew it was Bau’s special eye and hand at work.
That would have been the end of an engaging, uplifting story of Holocaust survivors renewing their lives in the newly established Jewish state after the Shoah.
Except that there is yet another facet to Bau’s work not revealed for decades: So good was his work that he was enlisted by the Mossad to forge documents for its agents sent on highly secretive, daring missions abroad, including those to Argentina to capture Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann, and for Eli Cohen, sent to Damascus in the years before the 1967 Six-Day War.
Bau kept his work in the service of his country to himself, not even sharing it years later with his two daughters. Indeed, that activity was only revealed after his passing. His daughters, Hadasa and Clila, have devoted their lives to the memory of their parents and legacy of their father.
They operate a museum of their father’s work in his actual studio, which comprises two small rooms on Berdichevsky Street in Tel Aviv. Most is pretty much as he left it: his brushes, cameras, animation machine, a small theater, sketches, artwork. Unfortunately, a new owner has taken possession of the building, and the Bau sisters face the dire possibility of having to move the museum.
That would be a shame. Joseph Bau was one of Israel’s unsung heroes. Just as he sought to uplift the spirits of his fellow Jews in the Plaszów concentration camp, despite the death and brutality that was its daily raison d’être, he quickly adjusted to life in Israel, bringing his resilient, upbeat view of the world and life around him to his work.
And when called upon to contribute his immense talent in the service of his people and to the critical tasks of the Mossad, he was there without equivocation.
The motion picture “Bau, Artist at War,” starring Emile Hirsch and Inbar Lavi—and directed by Sean McNamara and released by Paramount Global—focuses on Joseph and Rebecca’s years in the camps. As the number of Holocaust survivors dwindles daily, new accounts of the lives of many appear as memoirs, documentaries, and, like this, even full-length motion pictures.
During these uncertain times, when those who would deny or marginalize the Holocaust are spewing their hateful messages on social media and beyond, this story of two young Jews thrown into the maelstrom of depravity and savagery, who survive and rebuild their lives in Israel, is an inspiration. As some wish to erase and besmirch our history and as we approach two years since the savage Hamas attacks against Israel, this film reminds us of the Jewish people’s immense power to come back—and to live.
Daniel S. Mariaschin is CEO of B’nai B’rith International. As the organization’s top executive officer, Mariaschin directs and supervises B’nai B’rith programs, activities and staff around the world.