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Isis - Israel Kischka: Beyond the Window
Compiegne camp, April 19, 1943

Kischka was born in Paris on October 26, 1908 to a Jewish family who had immigrated from the Ukraine two years earlier. After completing his studies in commerce he became interested in painting and commenced his art career in 1926, working first as a designer of medals. His main sources of inspiration were Van Gogh and Cezanne. His paintings and colorful lithographs caught the attention of prestigious art critics, and in 1938 his works were exhibited for the first time at major galleries.
In 1941 he was arrested and interned in the Compiegne camp. He painted scenes of the camp and portraits of his fellow inmates, and encouraged other artists among the inmates to do likewise. He was a central figure in the artistic activity of the camp, organizing exhibitions and winning the highest esteem of fellow artists like Jacques Ostrowsky and Savely Schleifer, who dedicated numerous paintings done in the camp to him. From Compiegne he was transferred to the Drancy camp, but was not deported to the death camps.
In the fall of 1944, after 39 months internment, Kischka returned to Paris. Some time after his return he founded, together with art critic Jean Cassou and curator Yvon Bizardel, an association, Artists Witnesses of their Times. The first group exhibition was held in 1951.
Kischka managed to save his paintings from the period of his internment, as well as the works of other artists - Jacques Gotko, David Brainin, Abraham Joseph Berline, Savely Schleifer and Jacques Ostrowsky. He donated several of these works to the art collection of the Ghetto Fighters' House.
In December 1973, Isis - Israel Kischka died in Paris after a severe illness. Close