Savely Schleifer

Born September 30, 1881 in Odessa, Ukraine; died 1943 in Auschwitz-Birkenau

Background
Schleifer studied at the Odessa School of Fine Art and then moved to St. Petersburg. He pursued his art studies and became a member of the Association of Artists-Painters, and participated in various exhibitions.  1905, he moved to Paris, where he remained until 1907 and saw his paintings exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Indépendants.  Two years later, Schleifer returned to St. Petersburg and worked as a scenery designer at the Trotsky Theater.  With the outbreak of the World War I, he enlisted in the Russian Army and along with several other artists, joined the Camouflage Brigade, whose task was to mislead the enemy forces.  Following the war, he returned to St. Petersburg, teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts and designing costumes for the film industry.  1927, Schleifer and his wife immigrated to Paris, where the artist continued to paint, exhibit, and work in films.

Arrest and Internment at Compičgne
June 22, 1941, the day Germany declared war on Russia, Schleifer was arrested as an enemy alien and interned at Compičgne.

Art Produced at Compičgne
At Compičgne, Schleifer continued to paint.  His works included still lifes, scenes of the camp, and a humorous painting advertising a camp art exhibition.  He also painted a portrait of fellow artist and inmate Isis Kischka, who kept Schleifer's Compičgne works safe and, after the war, donated some of them to the Ghetto Fighters' House art collection.

Transfer to Drancy and Deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau
September 5, 1942, Schleifer was transferred to Drancy.  Nine days later, he was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and died there.

Bibliography:
Fenster, Hirsh.  Undzere Farpainikte Kinstler (Nos artistes martyrs). Paris, 1951.

Novitch, Miriam.  Resistenza spirituale: 120 disegni dai campi di concentramento e dai ghetti, 1940-1945. (Spiritual Resistance: 120 Drawings from Concentration Camps and Ghettos 1940-1945).  Milan, 1979.

Novitch, Miriam, Lucy S. Dawidowicz, and Tom L. Freudenheim.  Spiritual Resistance: Art from Concentration Camps, 1940-1945.  Philadelphia, 1981.