The petition
To
Director
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Oswiecim,
Poland
muzeum@auschwitz.org.pl
As artists, animators, conceptual artists, comic book artists and creators, we the undersigned recognize Dina Gottliebova Babbitt to be the sole rightful author and owner of her paintings, which reside in your possession.
We are deeply troubled that the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum has refused our colleague, Mrs. Babbitt the return of her property.
We assert that it was a war crime that she was forced by nazi Doctor Mengele to create these paintings in 1944, at the Auschwitz concentration camp, in order to save both her life and the life of her mother.
We agree that the display of Mrs. Babbitt's artwork is of great educational value, and we are pleased that the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum recognizes their importance. But that educational purpose could just as easily be achieved by displaying high-quality reproductions of the paintings, while returning the originals to their creator and rightful owner.
We recognize the purchase of these paintings by the museum to have been from someone other than the rightful owner.
We find the purchase and retention of ill-gotten gains to be a criminal offense.
We find the negation of this artist’s human and creative rights to be an insulting and dangerous threat to the rights of artists and people everywhere.
Will the Museum become famous for affirming that all people possess the right to their own property regardless of race or historical involvement? Or will the Museum become infamous for continuing to discriminate against Dina and ignore her rights because of the fact that she is a vicitm of the Holocaust? It is wrong to discriminate against a person because they were a victim of a historical event.
We want the Museum at Auschwitz to understand that Dina’s struggle to regain her work now extends far beyond her personal efforts. We are not going away until her work has been returned.
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