Komski Re-enacting His Own Torture: Memories of the Reverse

common form of torture involving hanging prisoners with their arms twisted backwards, a practice also known as strappado.¹³⁸ Between 1940 and 1942, Komski was the victim of the reverse hanging torture, and he portraits himself undergoing this and other forms of punishment in the camps. In 1979, Komski described the torture he suffered while in Auschwitz:

The lower half of your body is freezing, but from the waist up you’re sweating, the water running down. After awhile you don’t feel the chains on your wrists and you only feel it in your shoulders, twisted in this unnatural position. The

136 Klein, “The Dispersal,” p. 123.

137 Other is the case of Komski’s landscape watercolors and paintings, and other works not related with the concentration camps. Some of the landscape watercolors and oil paintings depicted by Komski in the last years of his life can be purchased from the following websites: Jan Komski- Fine art from Northern Virginia, at https://jankomski.wordpress.com/2014/11/ (accessed February 25, 2015); and Wentworth Gallery, at http://www.wentworthgallery.com/komski. html# prettyPhoto (accessed February 25, 2015).

138 Darius Rejali, Torture and Democracy, Princeton 2007. p. 296.

rule was, when you’re hanging, regardless of pain, to hang quiet. Try not to make a move. Any motion was a terrifying thing. The guard would sit there to make sure you didn’t die, and if you were unruly, he’d come and shake you.¹³⁹ Such a scene was represented several times, in the drawing Słupek/Pillar from 1945 (fig. 49); the drawing The “Stake,” after 1970 (fig. 50); the oil on canvas Kara słpka/na strychu bloku 11/The Post Punishment/In The Block 11, painted between 1970 and 1980 (fig. 51); and the watercolor Hung on Twisted Arms/Kara słpka, realised between 1990 and 1997 (fig. 52).

The 1945 drawing depicts two men wearing stripped uniforms hanging from their twisted arms while a SS guard watches them. The original title of this work, Słupek/Pillar, suggests two important features: the role of the pillar in the overall composition and the way Komski presents the torture by naming the “object” through which the torture was executed and not by naming the action itself or the subjects in the scene.

When analyzing the composition of the drawing, one notices the division of the image into two symmetric sections, marked by the wooden pillar in the center of the room. The pillar creates a visual division, emphasizing the verticality of the image and establishing a division between the Nazi torturer and the tortured prisoners. The right side of the drawing presents a partially fragmented image of a prisoner hanging backwards. The second prisoner, suspended a few steps away, is looking down, and as viewers, we can see the quiet pain in his face. His shirt, partially opened, reveals the muscular tension in his chest and rib cage. The shoes of the prisoners are on the floor, just below the place they are suspended. The cluttered arrangement of objects in the background of this scene suggests that the prisoners are being tortured in a basement or an attic. The strong and rushed strokes, which characterize Komski’s drawings from this period, are evident in this work and fill the whole space, reinforcing that notion of chaos. The use of hatching and cross-hatching creates a black and white contrast, which features in particular the figure of the SS officer on the left side of the drawing. The SS man is standing, resting his hands on his hips and holding a stick on his left hand, with no tension in his expression. He is smiling, which contrasts with the brutality of the torture, as if he seemed pleased to watch the spectacle of the

139 Komski’s words quoted by Michael Kernam. See Kernam, “Muted Works of One Man’s Silent Rage,” (accessed June 12, 2015)

prisoners’ pain. Such emphasis on the SS man certainly denotes Komski’s intention to blame and denounce the actions of the perpetrators.

More than thirty years later, in the ink and pen drawing The “Stake,” this accusatory look at the perpetrators became more evident. This drawing represents four prisoners hanging from their twisted arms while a SS guard looks at them. The prisoners are shown staring down at the floor, probably trying to hold such an agonizing position. A fifth prisoner lies face down on the floor, with his hands still tied behind his back, as if he had just been released from the torture. The SS officer holds the rope restraining the hands of the fallen prisoner with his left hand, while pointing with his right index finger at a hanged prisoner who is wearing the jacket of an old POW uniform marked on the back with a cross.¹⁴⁰ The strong and cruel semblance of the guard contrasts with the pain displayed by the victims of his torture.

Komski’s representation of the SS man is clearly accusatory. Its aim is to denounce and condemn the barbaric punishments he and others suffered.

As in Słupek/Pillar, the title of The “Stake” suggests the prominence of verticality in the composition and the way of presenting the torture by naming the object through which the torture is executed. As in the 1945 image, this drawing is visually divided into two sections marked by the wooden stake in the center of the room, which in this case reinforces the illusion of perspective and spatial depth.

However, in this drawing, the wooden post does not create a fully symmetrical visual division between the SS guard and the hanged prisoners. The architectural elements, a wooden staircase and other things in the background once more suggest the torture is taking place in an attic. Compared with Słupek/Pillar, the strokes Komski uses here are less overcrowded, more precise and softer, although they still show his preference for hatching and cross-hatching techniques to shape the light and dark contrast.

Bearing in mind that Komski’s drawings were created in the postwar years, I will compare them with a drawing depicting the same torture in other concentration camps. Strappado torture was common in Auschwitz and other camps, but few visual records depicting it have survived. However, some prisoners were able to depict such punishment while imprisoned in the camps. Such is the case of Lagerführer Seidler at an Interrogation at Gusen (fig. 53), a pencil on paper drawing created in 1944 by Stanisław Walczak inside Gusen (Mauthausen) concentration camp. What this

140 Pantouvaki, “Typology and Symbolism,” p, 83.

drawing and Komski’s works have in common is the intention to document the tortures used by the SS guards to punish the prisoners in the camps and to accuse and denounce the perpetrators' actions. In Stanisław Walczak’s drawing, those intentions are evident in the caption accompanying the image, in which he is accusing directly the leader of the camp, Lagerführer Seidler, of perpetrating such punishments against a prisoner during an interrogation process. This image was certainly created in captivity and hidden, and therefore it focuses mostly on documenting the action and representing the necessary elements to identify the figures, but its main concern is not to present all the details that surrounded the punishment. In contrast, Komski’s drawings document both the reverse hanging and the location in which the scene took place. This might be one of the biggest differences between forbidden works created inside the camps and the ones done by survivors in the postwar years. Even though they sometimes share the same topics and motifs, the works created after 1945 tend to be more detailed and less sketchy.

The canvas Kara słpka/na strychu bloku 11/The Post Punishment/In the Block 11 (fig. 51) illustrates once more a scene in which four prisoners are tortured by reverse hanging. In this version, Komski introduces some variations. The first difference is the change of the title: for the first time, the artist addresses directly the punishment and provides specific information about the place in which the event took place: Block 11 of Auschwitz. The second variation is the medium: The change from the black and white drawing format to the colorful oil painting on canvas gives Komski the opportunity to incorporate more details such as the chain used to hang the prisoners, the dirtiness of their uniforms contrasting with the cleanness of the SS guard’s uniform and the hanged prisoners' blushing cheeks.

On the left side of this version, three men are hanging in the same way Komski portrayed them before: gazing down and trying to hold still to withstand the pain and avoid provoking the SS guard. In this painting, more information about the identity of the prisoners is presented: the two men on the left side of the painting are wearing the red triangular batches with the “P” inside that identify them as Polish political prisoners, and it is also possible to identify the one hanging backwards in the foreground as prisoner number 1923.¹⁴¹ Komski depicts a fourth prisoner in the

141 When looking the Auschwitz-Birkenau prisoner records, the prisoner registered with the number 1923 was Józef Łagoda, a Polish mason who joined Auschwitz on August 15, 1940. See “Prisoner numbers,” Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum at

background: the image of the body is fragmented and appears hanging backwards, in the shadow, behind where the SS guard is sitting. From the way the shoulders of all prisoners are twisted and distorted, this image also emphasizes how the strappado torture could easily dislocate the shoulders, producing great pain.

Another variation Komski introduces in this canvas is the depiction of the SS guard: In contrast with the drawings in which he was depicted standing, in the oil on canvas version, he sits in what seems a comfortable armchair. The rather relaxed position the SS man assumes while attentively looking at the prisoners, especially at the prisoner 1923, contrasts with the uncomfortable and agonizing positions of the tortured prisoners. While the depiction of the guard in this version differs from the previous ones, the artist keeps his accusatory intention. Compared with The ‘Stake,’ in this oil on canvas, Komski does not stress the active cruelty of the SS officer when interacting with the prisoners, but he emphasizes his passive coldness and complete disregard of the prisoners’ pain.

More than ten years later, Komski made a fourth version of the scene of reverse hanging prisoners: the watercolor Hung on Twisted Arms/Kara słpka. Of the four versions, this last was the only one displayed in the 1998 exhibition of Komski’s works at the Holocaust Museum Houston.¹⁴² In this watercolor, four prisoners are hanging from the post while the SS officer is sitting in a wooden chair holding a pipe in his mouth. Compared with the rest of the versions, the way the prisoners are arranged is slightly different. Komski positions the three tortured prisoners on the left side on a diagonal array that reinforces the illusion of perspective. The fourth prisoner is hanging in the background, on the right side. The focus of the image is on the prisoner in the middle and especially on the figure of the SS officer.

The red triangular badge and the blurred identification number on the uniform of that prisoner are those of the artist himself. The watercolor is the only variation in which Komski makes explicit that he is depicting himself, thus re-enacting the torture of hanging one hour every day for three consecutive days in Auschwitz.¹⁴³ In addition,

http://auschwitz.org/en/museum/auschwitz-prisoners/prisoner-numbers (accessed April 26, 2015).

Considering he was in fact a Polish political prisoner imprisoned during the same time Komski was in Auschwitz, one could guess they might know each other. However, given the ambiguity present in Komski’s works related with the assignation of numbers to the prisoners, as discussed in the previous chapter, it seems not possible to confirm or deny that his intention in this painting was in fact to depict Józef Łagoda.

142 Jan Komski, Eyewitness, 1998.

143 Michael Kernan explains the reason behind the hanging as follows: “It wasn’t always possible to fade away. One time Komski was caught with a cigarette when cigarettes were forbidden (later the

Komski’s way of showing the SS officer in the watercolor is different from the other representations in which the SS officer is present. In this watercolor, the officer’s gaze denotes a cold-heartedness and cruel attitude. He holds a stick on his right hand and grasps a pipe close to his mouth with his left. Moreover, for the first time, Komski introduced a new feature: the SS guard is not looking directly at the prisoners, except perhaps at the artist, but rather seems to watch us, the viewers of the watercolor. The connection between the viewers and this image through eye contact with the intimidating and threatening SS man grants the viewers an active role in the watercolor and reinforces the artist’s intention to accuse the perpetrators and criticize their cruelty in his works.

Before analyzing further the watercolor version, I would like to comment briefly on the format and sizes of the works. Of the four variations, only two of them were publically shown by Komski: The 1945 drawing was published in 1946 in Za larger format. The size of the canvas––153 x 118 cm –– is relevant when considering the role of the viewer standing in front of the work: the large format makes it possible for the viewer to spot the details of the scene, to imagine the torture vividly, and to establish closeness with the victims and aversion towards the officer.

In the watercolor variation, Komski introduces an innovative feature regarding the format. Measuring 122.3 x 91.8 cm, this version is unusually large for depicting a subject not traditionally associated with watercolor. Between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries, watercolor was commonly used, especially in England, to represent landscapes, architectural topography, capricci and decorations, because it was “a medium uniquely adapted to render light, atmosphere and the fleeting movement of nature.”¹⁴⁴ From the nineteenth century onward, watercolor also became

policy changed, and captured Yugoslavian cigarettes were sold in the prison canteen). He was given three hours of hanging, one hour a day. Hands chained together behind his back, he was lifted by the chains until his feet were off the ground.” See Kernam, “Muted Works of One Man’s Silent Rage,”

(accessed June 12, 2015)

144 David Blayney Brown, “Watercolour,” in: Grove Art Online. at

<http://0-www.oxfordartonline.com.opac.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/subscriber/article/grove/art/T090797> (accessed May 12, 2015).

a popular medium in France, used to depict various subjects, including portraits and still lifes; it was also very popular for creating preparatory works and sketches.¹⁴⁵ Although some artists such as Paul Klee created numerous artworks with this media, watercolor has remained in general a “subsidiary technique.”¹⁴⁶ Hence, Komski’s works introduce two innovative features. First, examining the artistic tradition of watercolors, one realizes that watercolors of such large dimensions are extremely unusual, and perhaps unprecedented. Second, the subject Komski depicted, the scenes of torture and death in the concentration camps, is an uncommon topic for the watercolor tradition. Although this medium has been used since the nineteenth century to depict many subjects, it has not served to document historical events, especially those related to war and witnessed episodes of violence. Other media such as drawings, prints and canvases have been used more frequently as, for example, in the case of Goya’s and Callot’s prints and Otto Dix’s prints and paintings.

Curiously, since the twentieth century, watercolor has been often used by courtroom artists in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries¹⁴⁷ to document trials when cameras and sometimes press members are not allowed to enter the courtroom. In the United States, for example, in 1937, cameras were forbidden inside courtrooms, and as a consequence, newspapers and television and press agencies started to commission sketches of the trials.¹⁴⁸ Since then, numerous artists have been allowed to enter courtrooms as the only ones permitted to create visual records of the trials and document their progress.¹⁴⁹ One of the main materials many of these artists have chosen to use is watercolor. Among those using it are the

145 Some of the artists who worked with watercolors mentioned by David Blayney Brown are: Albrecht Dürer, Paul Sandby, Delacroix, Gericault, Richard Parkes Bonington, Delacroix, Henri-Joseph

Harpignies, Johan Barthold Jongkind, Jules Jacquemart, Cézanne, Pissarro, Paul Signac Puvis de Chavannes and Gustave Moreau. See Blayney Brown, “Watercolour”, (accessed May 12, 2015).

146 Harold Osborne, “Watercolour Painting,” The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Oxford Art Online, at http://0-www.oxfordartonline.com.opac.lib.ntnu.edu.tw/subscriber/article/opr/t118/

(accessed May 12, 2015)

147 The tradition of courtroom art started before the twentieth century in England and France. However, it was not until the twentieth century when artists experimented with other techniques different from drawing. See Sussane Owens (et.al), “Contemporary courtroom artists: Anthony Accurso, Marilyn Church, Stephen Cohen, Ida Libby Dengrove, Albert Herr, Joseph Papin, Richard Tomlinson, Meryl Treatner, Betty Wells,” in: Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery, exhibition catalog, 1976, Syracuse (New York), pp.4-5.

148 Daniel Scott, Courtroom Art: In The Dock with the Rich and Famous, London 2015. See as well Ramtin Nikzad, Courtroom Sketch Artist, Short Documentary, Op-Doc for the New York Times, May 12, 2014, at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/opinion/courtroom-sketch-artist.html?r=0 (accessed November 30, 2015)

149In the particular case of the UK, however, the few artists who are able to enter and witness the trials are not allowed to paint or draw inside the courtroom. Therefore, they have to re-create the events by memory once the trials are finished. See Scott, “Introduction,” in: Courtroom Art.

American artists Arthur Lien and Bill Robles (figs. 54, 55).¹⁵⁰ The comparison of courtroom artists with Komski might be useful to understand the characteristics of his work. The idea of artists as witnesses and the use of watercolor to document events that photographic cameras have not been able to record are the commonalities between courtroom artists and Komski. Comparing the conditions in which the ones and the other were creating their works, the differences are more noticeable. Komski depicted the events many years after they occurred. His works is not intended to be watercolors, with dimensions of 100 x 70 cm or larger. The display also included 18 pen-and-ink drawings, three scratchboard works and four oils on canvas. The works featured in the exhibition could indicate Komski’s preference for the drawing technique, in addition to watercolor.¹⁵¹

Comparing the oil on canvas Kara słpka/na strychu bloku 11/The Post Punishment/In The Block 11 with the watercolor Hung on Twisted Arms/Kara słpka, one notices another special characteristic of Komski’s art: the palette of colors he uses in both the oil on canvas and watercolor is similar and constant in his works created from the 1970s until the 1990s. It is based on a mix of light tones of blue, gray and

Comparing the oil on canvas Kara słpka/na strychu bloku 11/The Post Punishment/In The Block 11 with the watercolor Hung on Twisted Arms/Kara słpka, one notices another special characteristic of Komski’s art: the palette of colors he uses in both the oil on canvas and watercolor is similar and constant in his works created from the 1970s until the 1990s. It is based on a mix of light tones of blue, gray and