Texts and drawings by the children of Izieu
The Sabine Zlatin collection includes 71 drawings and ornamented letters which have been kept in the Prints and photography department of the French National Library (BnF) since 1993.
A few weeks after the roundup, Sabine Zlatin comes back to Izieu. She saves all the documents left in the ransacked house : letters and drawings made by the children as well as administrative papers. This treasure remains buried in her parisian flat for decades until the trial of K. Barbie awakes interest in France about the Izieu’s home for refugee children and the tragic fate of 44 of them.
In 1993, Sabine Zlatin gives these documents to the BnF. Upon her death, the Maison d’Izieu becomes her universal beneficiary and reproductions of many of her documents are now exhibited at the Izieu memorial museum.
The French National Library via its digital library Gallica and the Maison d’Izieu are now offering you the possibility to view a part of the collection online through 51 of its documents. The entire Sabine Zlatin collection, which includes archival documents which are not free from copyright, is available on Gallica Intramuros, from the reading rooms of the Bnf in Paris.
The Sabine Zlatin collection has been invited to join the « Memory of the World » Programme carried by European institutions. It is awaiting for recognition by the UNESCO.
Drawings
The children’s drawings included in the Sabine Zlatin collection are of several kinds :
– Made by the children welcomed by the Children’s Aid Society (OSE) at the Solarium of Palavas-les-Flots run by Sabine Zlatin from 1941 to 1942. These are whishes adressed to Mrs Zlatin for her birthday on January 13th.
– Made individually by some children, whether anonymously or with signatures on such as the one by Octave Wermet (Otto Wertheimer) or Max Tetelbaum who draws and paints on single sheets of paper or in two drawing books (gathering 13 works)
– Made collectively during the summer 1943 : fixed « cinema » films meant to be shown according to the magic lantern process : 3 films have come to us, more or less complete, each in two « reels », sometimes accompanied by all or part of their scenario.
[Homme pourchassé par une panthère, au-dessus une cigogne] ; [plan d’une ville, partie 2] : Max Teitel [Tetelbaum]
[Le chat botté] ; [Trois portraits identiques d’un homme avec un képi et derrière lui un cheval] : Octave Wermet [Otto Wertheimer]
[Une cigogne et un personnage assis au bord d’une rivière ou d’une mare sur laquelle flottent une demi-douzaine de canards] : Max [Tetelbaum]
[Des soldats en costume, bicorne, veste bleue, pantalon blanc, bottes noires, lancent des boulets de canon contre des remparts] ; [Des enfants jouent et courent dans un parc] : Max [Tetelbaum]
[Près d’une étendue d’eau, sept enfants se moquent d’un autre enfant qui sort de l’eau après y être tombé] : Max [Tetelbaum]
[Un marin, dans l’eau jusqu’aux mollets, près des rochers, s’est fait pincer la main par un crabe qui y est accroché] ; [Esquisses] : Max [Tetelbaum]
Ornamented letters
The documents included in this selection are written and ornamented whishes adressed by the children to Mrs Zlatin for her birthday in January 1944. The ornamented letters have been described as manuscripts, even though they have graphic elements and come under a different category.
TO GO FURTHER
Blog post on gallica.bnf.fr
In bookshops : the new reference book, On jouait, on s’amusait, on chantait, Paroles et images des enfants d’Izieu, 1943-1944
Conference : « The children of Izieu », meeting at the BnF, April 13th 2022
« The magic Lantern of the children of Izieu » : first short film made from comic strips drawn by the home’s children.
