Reviving the Artist Who Fought Hitler
By Irvin Ungar
The intertwining story of a noted anti-Nazi artist and the former rabbi who revived his reputation.
During World War II, the Polish-Jewish immigrant Arthur Szyk became America's leading anti-Nazi artist. His art was so effective that Adolf Hitler reportedly put a bounty on his head while the US military declared him a "citizen-soldier" of the free world. Szyk steadfastly fought for the rescue of European Jewry during the Holocaust, creating artworks like De Profundis, which imagines Jesus sharing the suffering of countless lifeless Jews. His civil rights art challenged segregation and his illuminated Declaration of Independence resides in the Library of Congress. Szyk's masterwork, an illustrated Passover Haggadah, is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful books ever produced by human hands.
Once world-famous, Arthur Szyk was all but forgotten after his death in 1951. Reviving the Artist Who Fought Hitler recounts Irvin Ungar's decades-long journey to restore Szyk to public consciousness, and become the principal collector, dealer, scholar, and promoter of Szyk's art in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Richly illustrated and full of forgotten history, this memoir is an inspiring story of artistic passion and an invitation to commune with a heroic advocate for all humanity.
These discussion questions were provided by the publisher, DartFrog Books.
Book club questions for Reviving the Artist Who Fought Hitler by Irvin Ungar
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
How much did you know about Arthur Szyk before reading the book? Did you learn anything new or surprising?
Irvin Ungar’s journey with Arthur Szyk began with chance encounters in which Ungar writes that the artist’s work seemed to call to him; can you describe a time when you have felt a similar inexplicable pull?
In what ways is this book a memoir and in what ways is it a biography? Do you feel it blends those genres successfully? Why or why not?
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Create My ClubUngar describes several ways in which his life mirrored Szyk’s; can you name three of these shared experiences?
Did you find Ungar a reliable narrator of his own and Szyk’s history? Why or why not?
What were the steps in Ungar’s career that led him to Szyk? Would you have made the same choices he did at those inflection points? Why or why not?
There are many examples of Arthur Szyk’s art in the book. Which is your favorite, and why?
What do you think Ungar’s intention was in writing this book? Does he achieve it?
Reviving the Artist Who Fought Hitler Book Club Questions PDF
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