Beyond Irrepresentability

Exploring Images from Nazi Camps, Ghettos, and the Holocaust

Contributions by Ziva Maisels Contributions by Daniel Véri Contributions by Rachel E. Perry Contributions by Manuel Fabritz Contributions by Volkhard Knigge Contributions by Eliad Moreh-Rosenberg Contributions by Agata Pietrasik Contributions by Julie Constant Contributions by Anna Paola Bellini Contributions by Sarah Wilson Contributions by Eugenia Alexaki Contributions by Olga Stefan Contributions by Nerijus Šepetys Contributions by Giedré Jankeviciuté Contributions by Mackenzie Lake Contributions by Michaela Haibl Contributions by Kobi Kabalek Contributions by Piotr Słodkowski Contributions by Ella Falldorf Contributions by Verena Krieger Edited by Verena Krieger Edited by Ella Falldorf Series edited by Verena Krieger

Book cover: Beyond Irrepresentability

Extent: 352 pages

Publisher: Böhlau Verlag Köln

Subjects: Art & Art History, Jewish Studies, Twentieth- & Twenty-First- Century History

Series: Kunst - Geschichte - Gegenwart

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(December 2025)

ISBN: 9783412533786

6.1 x 9.06 inches

Price: $94.00

In stock

Despite the doubts about the representability of the Holocaust, thousands of images were created by prisoners in Nazi camps and ghettos during and immediately after the Holocaust. Yet, both art historians and historians rarely dealt with them for decades. Because of their mostly figurative language, researchers and memory institutions often relegated such images to the status of spiritual and political resistance, praised their artistic quality, or consulted them as illustrations of “how it was”. But these images do not speak for themselves, they require analysis. In this volume, 19 international scholars, curators, and educators explore the potential of analytical approaches to drawings, albums, paintings, and prints created by victims and witnesses of the Nazi regime. They consolidate current approaches to these multifaceted objects and take the images seriously as images.


Despite the doubts about the representability of the Holocaust, thousands of images were created by prisoners in Nazi camps and ghettos during and immediately after the Holocaust. Yet, both art historians and historians rarely dealt with them for decades. Because of their mostly figurative language, researchers and memory institutions often relegated such images to the status of spiritual and political resistance, praised their artistic quality, or consulted them as illustrations of “how it was”. But these images do not speak for themselves, they require analysis. In this volume, 19 international scholars, curators, and educators explore the potential of analytical approaches to drawings, albums, paintings, and prints created by victims and witnesses of the Nazi regime. They consolidate current approaches to these multifaceted objects and take the images seriously as images.

  • Contributions by Ziva Maisels
  • Contributions by Daniel Véri
  • Contributions by Rachel E. Perry
  • Contributions by Manuel Fabritz
  • Contributions by Volkhard Knigge
  • Contributions by Eliad Moreh-Rosenberg
  • Contributions by Agata Pietrasik
  • Contributions by Julie Constant
  • Contributions by Anna Paola Bellini
  • Contributions by Sarah Wilson
  • Contributions by Eugenia Alexaki
  • Contributions by Olga Stefan
  • Contributions by Nerijus Šepetys
  • Contributions by Giedré Jankeviciuté
  • Contributions by Mackenzie Lake
  • Contributions by Michaela Haibl
  • Contributions by Kobi Kabalek
  • Contributions by Piotr Słodkowski
  • Contributions by Ella Falldorf
  • Contributions by Verena Krieger
  • Edited by Verena Krieger
  • Edited by Ella Falldorf
  • Series edited by Verena Krieger