His works thus challenged the notion that Jewish history was merely one long saga of suffering and recast the Jews as assertive actors in shaping their own destiny. Szyk sought to redefine how Jews viewed themselves and how others viewed them. His Jews were fighters for their own freedom and the freedom of others. Szyk's artworks and illuminations portrayed the Jews as a heroic nation that had resisted oppression through the ages and eventually triumphed. During the darkest periods of the war, Szyk’s images reached millions of Americans, helping to boost morale by unmasking the threat that Nazism posed to Western civilization. His images appeared in leading magazines and newspapers such as Collier’s, Esquire, Time, Look, Liberty, the New York Post, and the Chicago Sun. His moving portrayals of Jewish suffering and heroism bespoke a political activism that demanded “action-not pity.”īy 1943, Arthur Szyk had become perhaps America’s leading artistic advocate for Jewish rescue from Nazi Europe. His incisive wartime cartoons and caricatures filled the pages of American newspapers and magazines, earning him a reputation as a “one-man army” in the Allied cause. Szyk found strength in biblical stories of Jewish bravery and martyrdom, and in more modern examples of courage.ĭuring World War II, Szyk (pronounced “Shick”) devoted his energies to defeating Nazi Germany and its allies and calling the world’s attention to the mass murder of Europe’s Jews.

From his early childhood in the Polish city of Lodz until his death in New Canaan, Connecticut, he drew inspiration from the history of his people.

Szyk was a skillful caricaturist and a passionate crusader for political causes.

Artist Arthur Szyk (1894–1951) earned an international reputation during his lifetime for his richly detailed illustrations and illuminations of Jewish themes.

Call of war 1942 raise morale