The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Janowska, like many other concentration camps, piled the shoes, clothes, documents and bodies of its victims. This image was particularly common after the war when photographers entered the liberated camps. The image of the Nazi soldier as having the face of a baboon is rare, if not unknown in holocaust imagery. It is a particularly personal expression by the artist that shows the guard as a trained animal, foolishly yet powerfully guarding his bounty.
The pile of shoes have been taken from the casualties in the Jewish concentration camp of Janowska, and show with horror the growing rate of deaths. Other inmates observe their fate as silent witness
