By Tani Levitt April 19, 2023

Before the onset of World War II, Maurice Mendjizky had lived many lives. After his childhood in Łodz, Poland, he studied musical conducting in Berlin, undertook military service in his home country and launched a successful career as an artist in Paris.

In 1933, with the specter of Nazism rising in Germany, Mendjizky, then 43, co-founded the Mouvement des Intellectuels pour la Paix (Association of Intellectuals for Peace) and began his next act, as a man singularly dedicated to resisting Nazism. He joined the French resistance with his family, and lost his wife and a son in that fight, while his parents and two sisters perished in the Warsaw ghetto.

Riddled with grief after the end of the war, Mendjizky brought his experience with resistance to his art, painting a series of works titled Homage to the Martyr Fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto between 1947 and 1950. 

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

This year is the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising, which began on April 19, 1943. In his paintings, Mendjizky might have anticipated the lasting impact the image of those desperate fighters would have on the world’s imagination. “These faces don’t let me rest,” he told a friend. “I must draw them. Perhaps then it will be easier for me.”

1 / 6

From Maurice Mendjizky's Homage to the Martyr Fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto. Courtesy of Patricia Mendjizky

2 / 6

From Maurice Mendjizky's Homage to the Martyr Fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto. Courtesy of Patricia Mendjizky

3 / 6

From Maurice Mendjizky's Homage to the Martyr Fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto. Courtesy of Patricia Mendjizky

4 / 6

From Maurice Mendjizky's Homage to the Martyr Fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto. Courtesy of Patricia Mendjizky

5 / 6

From Maurice Mendjizky's Homage to the Martyr Fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto. Courtesy of Patricia Mendjizky

6 / 6

From Maurice Mendjizky's Homage to the Martyr Fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto. Courtesy of Patricia Mendjizky

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re in the middle of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount