Begräbnis, Ravensbrück - Aat Breur-Hibma

A poignant 1944 graphite drawing by Aat Breur-Hibma, documenting the grim reality of the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

This drawing by Aat Breur-Hibma documents the conditions within the Ravensbrück concentration camp during the Second World War. Executed in 1944, the work depicts a cart carrying the bodies of deceased prisoners. The artist, a Dutch resistance member who was imprisoned at Ravensbrück, used her skills to record the reality of camp life under clandestine circumstances.

The composition is spare and direct. Breur-Hibma employs thin, rapid graphite lines to capture the figures on the cart. The lack of shading or decorative elements focuses the viewer entirely on the subject matter. The figures are rendered with a sense of detachment that conveys the frequency of such scenes within the camp. The rough, torn edges of the paper suggest the scarcity of materials available to the artist at the time.

Breur-Hibma produced a series of drawings during her incarceration, often hiding them to ensure their survival. These works function as primary historical records of the Holocaust. The artist's ability to maintain her practice under extreme duress provides a clear, unvarnished account of the human cost of the conflict. This print is a reproduction of an original drawing held in the collection of the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies in Amsterdam. It serves as a historical document, preserving the memory of those who perished in the camp system.