The Portraitist

Wilhelm Brasse must have been the portrait photographer with the most horrific job. As a camp prisoner during Second World War, he was ordered to photograph the faces and bodies of his fellow prisoners in Auschwitz as well as the German staff responsible for their suffering. Trying to maintain his professionalism, he perfectly captured the essence of life and death in Auschwitz. The disturbing, yet personal pictures have been a source of information throughout the years. The portraitist explores Brasses relationship with his pictures and his memories of his time in the camp.

Political Relevance

The Second World War is known as the war of Hitlers Nazi Germany in order to conquer the world during 1939 until 1945. During the war, millions of people perished by bombings, fights, starvation and deportation to labor camps and concentration camps. Auschwitz in Poland was a complex of concentration and extermination camps and had a key role in the Nazi genocide program. From the start in 1942, prisoners were held and killed in Auschwitz until the camp was liberated in January 1945.

Wilhelm Brasse

Wilhelm Brasse was a prisoner in Auschwitz, where he also worked as a professional photographer. After refusing to capitulate and joining the Polish army in 1939, he was taken prisoner and sent to Auschwitz. He was ordered to photograph portraits of the prisoners and army staff, as well as to capture medical experiments done in Auschwitz. During his years in Auschwitz Brasse made tens of thousands of pictures, most of them have been preserved and documented.