Empty, Burnt Warsaw by Night

The watercolor titled Empty, Burnt Warsaw by Night by Henryk Beck was painted in late 1944 in one of the bunkers of destroyed, post-uprising Warsaw. The author was one of the so-called “Robinsons”—people who decided to stay in the Polish capital after the fall of the Warsaw Uprising. Despite terrible living conditions, fear, and lack of access to running water, Beck never ceased to produce art. Empty, Burnt Warsaw by Night was probably painted around Christmas. The Star of Bethlehem is visible in the sky over the ruined city, with its light illuminating the skeleton of a burnt tenement house and remnants of buildings.

Empty, Burnt Warsaw by Night forms part of the cycle Bunker 1944, a collection of 46 watercolors and sketches produced in various techniques. The works included in the cycle are both realistic and symbolic depictions of the experience of people hiding in the capital. The cycle has been digitized and made available on the Delet portal. 

Henryk Beck (1896–1946) was an esteemed gynecologist of Jewish descent. In 1942, he went into hiding on the so-called “Aryan side” of Warsaw. He fought in the Warsaw Uprising, and after its fall, he hid in a bunker until the arrival of Russian troops in January 1945. After the war, he worked in hospitals in Warsaw and Wrocław. He died of a heart attack on 23 March 1946. His wife Jadwiga committed suicide on the same day.

We present today's work thanks to the Jewish Historical Institute. 

P.S. Here you can read the stories of five artists who also fought during the war.