An art exhibition to keep the memory alive. 71 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Berlin's German Historical Museum opens its doors to the artists that were held in Nazi’s concentration camps. Most of the 100 paintings exhibited, were created in secret, while the artists were forced to live in inhumane conditions, behind the walls of concentration camps, around Europe. Classified into themes, the works range from illustrating the daily atrocities in the camps and in the ghettos, to the depiction of an idyllic counter-reality.

While the discovery of some of these paintings even cost some artists their lives, many of these works were not found until after the end of the Second World War. Of the 50 artists featured, 24 were murdered in the camps. Alongside the largely unknown names, acclaimed artists such as Felix Nussbaum and Ludwig Meidner are also represented.

The paintings belong to the Yad Vashem collection, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. The exhibition was open to celebrate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January and it represents the culmination of events marking 50 years since the establishment of German-Israeli diplomatic relations. This is hitherto the largest presentation of artworks from the Yad Vashem collection outside Israel.

Cover photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images