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Bau: Artist at War
A classic memoir that is both an inspiring true love story and a historical espionage thriller, Artist at War comes at a critical moment when the last survivors of the German concentration camps are dying and the Holocaust is slipping from memory.
In a memorable scene from Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List, viewers the world over witnessed the clandestine marriage of two Jews in the Plaszow concentration Joseph and Rebecca Bau. At once a tale of horror and beauty, Artist at War is one man’s memoir of a the bloom of love in the depths of a Nazi concentration camp.
Full of stories and drawings depicting, among other scenes, the bombing of Krakow, Bau’s brother’s daring exploits in the ghetto, the unspeakable brutality of the camps, and the harsh last days at Schindler’s factory, this is the true story of number 247 on the men’s section of Schindler’s list. With artistic irony and elegance, Bau balances the grimness of events with the humor and resiliency that helped him and his wife survive, and allowed their love triumph against all odds.
In a memorable scene from Steven Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List, viewers the world over witnessed the clandestine marriage of two Jews in the Plaszow concentration Joseph and Rebecca Bau. At once a tale of horror and beauty, Artist at War is one man’s memoir of a the bloom of love in the depths of a Nazi concentration camp.
Full of stories and drawings depicting, among other scenes, the bombing of Krakow, Bau’s brother’s daring exploits in the ghetto, the unspeakable brutality of the camps, and the harsh last days at Schindler’s factory, this is the true story of number 247 on the men’s section of Schindler’s list. With artistic irony and elegance, Bau balances the grimness of events with the humor and resiliency that helped him and his wife survive, and allowed their love triumph against all odds.
288 pages, Paperback
Published January 21, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 5, 2025
I am really in my memoir / non fiction era this year and I am loving it. I always rend to gravitate to WWII related books when I read historical fiction / non fiction. Joseph Bau a Holocaust survivor and artist tells his story through words and art.
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Did you ever see Schindlers List? You know the scene where two of the prisoners in Plaszow Concentration camp get married? Well, that scene, that was an enactment of real life Joseph Bau and his wife Rebecca. This is a story of love, loss, fierceness and bravery.
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An incredibly brave man to discuss what most certainly had to be the worst period of his life. It’s so difficult to hear what all of those people were put through. It is astounding the resilience of all of the survivors, they are truly heroes.
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Joseph tells this stories through his drawings and takes the reader through the concentration camp, telling his story and exactly what he remembers. This was very powerful and eye opening. It is most definitely a must read!
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I listened to this one via audiobook and it was narrated by Assaf Cohen. I would have loved to have the imagery right in front of me while reading to really enhance what I was hearing but overall it did not take away from my experience. I love how well this was narrated, highly recommend reading this one alongside the book for the picture purposes.
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Overall, a must read for sure. A truly compelling and powerful story. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Joseph Bau and Blackstone Publishing for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.
•
Did you ever see Schindlers List? You know the scene where two of the prisoners in Plaszow Concentration camp get married? Well, that scene, that was an enactment of real life Joseph Bau and his wife Rebecca. This is a story of love, loss, fierceness and bravery.
•
An incredibly brave man to discuss what most certainly had to be the worst period of his life. It’s so difficult to hear what all of those people were put through. It is astounding the resilience of all of the survivors, they are truly heroes.
•
Joseph tells this stories through his drawings and takes the reader through the concentration camp, telling his story and exactly what he remembers. This was very powerful and eye opening. It is most definitely a must read!
•
I listened to this one via audiobook and it was narrated by Assaf Cohen. I would have loved to have the imagery right in front of me while reading to really enhance what I was hearing but overall it did not take away from my experience. I love how well this was narrated, highly recommend reading this one alongside the book for the picture purposes.
•
Overall, a must read for sure. A truly compelling and powerful story. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Joseph Bau and Blackstone Publishing for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.
February 17, 2025
Joseph Bau's memoir depicts the Holocaust and his time at Plaszow in a way that is honest and frank, yet light enough to make it accessible to a younger audience. This book is also filled with Bau's powerful charcoal illustrations of his experiences.
While Bau did much to aid others and save lives during the Holocaust, he humbly left that part of his story out of his memoir and it is only discussed in the footnotes and afterward in minor detail. I am left with many questions about the details of his heroic acts and I hope that the upcoming film of the same title will touch on those events more.
I recieved this book through a goodreads giveaway.
While Bau did much to aid others and save lives during the Holocaust, he humbly left that part of his story out of his memoir and it is only discussed in the footnotes and afterward in minor detail. I am left with many questions about the details of his heroic acts and I hope that the upcoming film of the same title will touch on those events more.
I recieved this book through a goodreads giveaway.
January 22, 2025
Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.
I've read many Holocaust autobiographies trying to make sense of the event. I still cannot, but this is the closest I will ever be to see through a Survivors eyes from my home in Canada. Mr.Bau creates imagery that allows you to see semi see, hear and smell what he has. I say semi, because I don't think my mind can truly comprehend what he has loved through. The art is what I find the most heart breaking, although it helped tell the story of his family and his wife.
I've read many Holocaust autobiographies trying to make sense of the event. I still cannot, but this is the closest I will ever be to see through a Survivors eyes from my home in Canada. Mr.Bau creates imagery that allows you to see semi see, hear and smell what he has. I say semi, because I don't think my mind can truly comprehend what he has loved through. The art is what I find the most heart breaking, although it helped tell the story of his family and his wife.
November 3, 2025
Bau, Artist at War, Joseph Bau, author; Assaf Cohen, narrator
I found this book to be a bit disappointing at first read. I borrowed the audio from the library, and the important drawings in the print copy were absent. I obtained a print copy, and the experience changed. Perhaps, a print copy is advisable.
With a great deal of description, the Plaszow Camp where Joseph Bau was kept prisoner is described in great detail. It was hard for me to picture it accurately, so the drawings were very helpful. I do think that the memoir needed a bit more editing, however. The time line was sometimes confusing as it seemed to move back and forth. I also think that the relationship between Joseph and Rebecca was too sparse, but perhaps the book is also intended to promote the movie which will emphasize it.
The cruelty of the Germans was alive on the page, and there were examples of behavior I had never read about before, like having red stripes painted on their clothing, or having to carry a heavy stone on one’s back until one dropped and was crushed by it, or latrine buckets doubling as the serving bucket for the soup or coffee, or that Jewish tombstones were used as the paving stones in the camp and the camp was built over the cemetery. I was also unaware that the latrine was the social center where deals were made.
There was a total loss of humanity because Jews were not treated like human beings by their captors. Even after the war, those who pretended not to know what had happened, still refused to return the property they had stolen from the Jews. They were just as barbaric. For the most part, the thieves and accessories to the genocide got away with it. So, Jews were forced to leave their homes again. There was nothing left there for them. Family, friends, and possessions had disappeared forever, although some recompense would be made in the future.
In the audio, the portrayal of Joseph’s brother Marcel seemed stereotypical of a Shylock type character and was disappointing for me. The tone of voice and stress placed seemed to demean him. I hope the movie presents him a little differently. Marcel was also a clever survivor, in many ways, but his defiance was treated as if he was just an arrogant con man, always promoting schemes rather than attempting to resist the demands of the Germans and to help his family. It was off-putting. Joseph on the other hand acquiesced to the Germans in order to survive and worked as a graphic artist. He fell in love with Rebecca and bravely sneaked into the women’s camp to see her, disguising himself with a white kerchief over his head, like all the women wore. He was lucky to eventually wind up working in Schindler’s factory as a draftsman. Rebecca gave manicures to Commandant Goeth. She escaped death at Auschwitz when either luck or G-d intervened.
I was surprised that the Plaszow Camp often seemed to be functioning in some ways as a community with shops for the Germans like shoemakers, bakeries, laundries, furriers, tailors, locksmiths, etc., and that his mother seemed to live with a bit more freedom in a hut which he visited, although not without danger. Perhaps the translation gave the place an impression that was a bit inaccurate. The fear and barbarism were presented as were the awful living conditions. Couple that with Schindler’s heroism and the search for the Germans responsible for The Holocaust to balance it out. The entire picture is presented for the reader to experience.
I am not certain that the idea of the betrayals of each other, often forced upon them by the Germans, often Jew upon Jew, was presented with the emphasis on blaming the Germans for putting Jews in such a position. Of course, there was terrible depravity and of course the extreme deprivation contributed to their behavior. The Jews had no escape. The diabolical German plan to annihilate them was thorough, and they were humiliated and robbed of everything. Then they were hidden away and there was no escape from the barbaric behavior of their German captors and their sadistic participants. Their sadistic barbarism was carefully hidden and/or denied for years as most of the Germans and the world leaders proclaimed their ignorance while millions were tortured, starved and murdered in an attempt to wipe out the world’s Jewish communities, gay communities, disabled communities and anyone not belonging to the elite Aryan race. Did fear keep the world from acknowledging the horror or was it that these people being eliminated so heinously were just not important enough?
So, yes, while the Jews seemed to calmly go into captivity, and then to adapt to their loss of rights as they sewed on their stars, went to the ghettos and even to the camps, they had little other choice. Their neighbors turned against them. They had no friends, no support, no police to help them. They were surrounded by their enemies. Their only hope was that the war would end, and then they might be able to return to normal life. They could never have imagined what would take place, nor could any decent human being. They could never imagine the betrayals of those pretending to help them.
I am at a loss to explain how so many decent human beings stood by as it did happen. They denied awareness. For me, that is just incomprehensible. I am Jewish. No one was that blind, unless it was a willful blindness. I fear for the Jews today, as the demonic minds of many are once again hypnotized by those marching and chanting “from the river to the sea” as Jews are being blamed for the very genocide committed against them. Many are standing shoulder to shoulder as they once again condemn innocent Jews. The cries of “never again” are lost in the wind as it is, indeed, happening again and again. When I visited Vienna, four decades after the war, I witnessed its surviving antisemitism in the flesh. Today, the Holocaust deniers are alive and well, although it is almost four decades after my visit to Austria, and the madness is once again spreading throughout the world. It is simply a bridge too far to cross. The haters must be stopped in New York, in Paris, in Vienna, anywhere it rears its ugly head.
I found this book to be a bit disappointing at first read. I borrowed the audio from the library, and the important drawings in the print copy were absent. I obtained a print copy, and the experience changed. Perhaps, a print copy is advisable.
With a great deal of description, the Plaszow Camp where Joseph Bau was kept prisoner is described in great detail. It was hard for me to picture it accurately, so the drawings were very helpful. I do think that the memoir needed a bit more editing, however. The time line was sometimes confusing as it seemed to move back and forth. I also think that the relationship between Joseph and Rebecca was too sparse, but perhaps the book is also intended to promote the movie which will emphasize it.
The cruelty of the Germans was alive on the page, and there were examples of behavior I had never read about before, like having red stripes painted on their clothing, or having to carry a heavy stone on one’s back until one dropped and was crushed by it, or latrine buckets doubling as the serving bucket for the soup or coffee, or that Jewish tombstones were used as the paving stones in the camp and the camp was built over the cemetery. I was also unaware that the latrine was the social center where deals were made.
There was a total loss of humanity because Jews were not treated like human beings by their captors. Even after the war, those who pretended not to know what had happened, still refused to return the property they had stolen from the Jews. They were just as barbaric. For the most part, the thieves and accessories to the genocide got away with it. So, Jews were forced to leave their homes again. There was nothing left there for them. Family, friends, and possessions had disappeared forever, although some recompense would be made in the future.
In the audio, the portrayal of Joseph’s brother Marcel seemed stereotypical of a Shylock type character and was disappointing for me. The tone of voice and stress placed seemed to demean him. I hope the movie presents him a little differently. Marcel was also a clever survivor, in many ways, but his defiance was treated as if he was just an arrogant con man, always promoting schemes rather than attempting to resist the demands of the Germans and to help his family. It was off-putting. Joseph on the other hand acquiesced to the Germans in order to survive and worked as a graphic artist. He fell in love with Rebecca and bravely sneaked into the women’s camp to see her, disguising himself with a white kerchief over his head, like all the women wore. He was lucky to eventually wind up working in Schindler’s factory as a draftsman. Rebecca gave manicures to Commandant Goeth. She escaped death at Auschwitz when either luck or G-d intervened.
I was surprised that the Plaszow Camp often seemed to be functioning in some ways as a community with shops for the Germans like shoemakers, bakeries, laundries, furriers, tailors, locksmiths, etc., and that his mother seemed to live with a bit more freedom in a hut which he visited, although not without danger. Perhaps the translation gave the place an impression that was a bit inaccurate. The fear and barbarism were presented as were the awful living conditions. Couple that with Schindler’s heroism and the search for the Germans responsible for The Holocaust to balance it out. The entire picture is presented for the reader to experience.
I am not certain that the idea of the betrayals of each other, often forced upon them by the Germans, often Jew upon Jew, was presented with the emphasis on blaming the Germans for putting Jews in such a position. Of course, there was terrible depravity and of course the extreme deprivation contributed to their behavior. The Jews had no escape. The diabolical German plan to annihilate them was thorough, and they were humiliated and robbed of everything. Then they were hidden away and there was no escape from the barbaric behavior of their German captors and their sadistic participants. Their sadistic barbarism was carefully hidden and/or denied for years as most of the Germans and the world leaders proclaimed their ignorance while millions were tortured, starved and murdered in an attempt to wipe out the world’s Jewish communities, gay communities, disabled communities and anyone not belonging to the elite Aryan race. Did fear keep the world from acknowledging the horror or was it that these people being eliminated so heinously were just not important enough?
So, yes, while the Jews seemed to calmly go into captivity, and then to adapt to their loss of rights as they sewed on their stars, went to the ghettos and even to the camps, they had little other choice. Their neighbors turned against them. They had no friends, no support, no police to help them. They were surrounded by their enemies. Their only hope was that the war would end, and then they might be able to return to normal life. They could never have imagined what would take place, nor could any decent human being. They could never imagine the betrayals of those pretending to help them.
I am at a loss to explain how so many decent human beings stood by as it did happen. They denied awareness. For me, that is just incomprehensible. I am Jewish. No one was that blind, unless it was a willful blindness. I fear for the Jews today, as the demonic minds of many are once again hypnotized by those marching and chanting “from the river to the sea” as Jews are being blamed for the very genocide committed against them. Many are standing shoulder to shoulder as they once again condemn innocent Jews. The cries of “never again” are lost in the wind as it is, indeed, happening again and again. When I visited Vienna, four decades after the war, I witnessed its surviving antisemitism in the flesh. Today, the Holocaust deniers are alive and well, although it is almost four decades after my visit to Austria, and the madness is once again spreading throughout the world. It is simply a bridge too far to cross. The haters must be stopped in New York, in Paris, in Vienna, anywhere it rears its ugly head.
March 23, 2025
This review is painful for me to write. I received the audiobook as an ARC. The forward had me so excited about this book; it sounded like a beautiful but sad story about finding love during wartime. Unfortunately, this one was not a win for me. The author tells amazing stories that pull you into the problem that there are major gaps in time. I almost felt like I was reading a selection of short stories. For example, you miss a lot of the meeting, falling in love, etc, part of the love story but then get this amazingly written story about the wedding night and how he is almost captured and killed that night. I will say the scenes that are focused on are amazing! I really loved that this book goes past the war, and you actually see parts of the trials for those who are guilty of war crimes, which I have never read in a book. I honestly wish this book had been double the length; it might have been a 5-star. The stories we do get are well done, horrible to read, but beautifully written. I just hated the gaps in the book, and the gaps also made it harder for me to connect to the characters.
Reading Vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMyyZ...
Reading Vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMyyZ...
January 21, 2025
Bau: Artist at War by Joseph Bau is one of the most raw, emotive, heartbreaking, thoughtful, eye-opening and informative memoirs on the Holocaust I have read. That is saying a lot as I have read every one I can find to learn more about this devastating and important time in history. Mr. Bau wrote without self pity and injected humour and wit into his intelligent observations of human nature. His art is smart and impactful yet easy to grasp. I am so thankful he captured every detail he could in words and art in the Kraków Ghetto and Plaszów, Gross-Rosen and Brněnec camps. He even had the foresight to draw important maps. But he is a hero as well.
Joseph met and married Rebecca at Plaszów camp. What a story! Miracle after miracle happened in their lives as they navigated being Jews in a horrendous time. The love wherever they lived (ghetto and Israel) with their children and neighbours must have been a comforting patchwork quilt. As Jews in the Ghetto they had nothing yet they had everything. They had no value but were invaluable. Camps were even worse.
Joseph used his talents as an artist and artistic photographer and Rebcca used her nursing, cosmetology, knowledge of nine languages and couturier to do good. They also saved hundreds of Jews. Rebecca became a manicurist for the SS at Plaszów and as such was treated slightly better than other prisoners. She also risked her own life to save Joseph's and getting him added to Oskar Schindler's list. She wrote her experiences in diaries. He designed posters which a deputy officer noticed so he brought Joseph food. Story after story shows their cheerful outlook, love for those suffering and passion to see a need and help. Both were extremely humble and their rescues only came to light decades later.
Amongst the stories which grabbed my heart and soul most are the blackout shade creations, "An Ode to Bread", harrowing camp illustrations, Bau marriage, reasons for executions, camp "food" such as "jam" and scraping spilled soup from the floor with an old chamber pot, Joseph's tour of Plaszów, liberation, Rebecca's selfless saving of her husband and providing provisions for her children, the Schindler connection, rescues, and tremendous love of this beautiful family. The reminders Joseph wrote about crushed my heart but I can imagine the associations. But the story doesn't end there. The two were honoured with awards and were asked to attend trials to testify against SS Gruen. Their "afters" are detailed as well.
There is no way to do this book sufficient justice. Just please read it. You won't regret one second.
My sincere thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this exceptional book, one I will never forget. And isn't that the point?
Joseph met and married Rebecca at Plaszów camp. What a story! Miracle after miracle happened in their lives as they navigated being Jews in a horrendous time. The love wherever they lived (ghetto and Israel) with their children and neighbours must have been a comforting patchwork quilt. As Jews in the Ghetto they had nothing yet they had everything. They had no value but were invaluable. Camps were even worse.
Joseph used his talents as an artist and artistic photographer and Rebcca used her nursing, cosmetology, knowledge of nine languages and couturier to do good. They also saved hundreds of Jews. Rebecca became a manicurist for the SS at Plaszów and as such was treated slightly better than other prisoners. She also risked her own life to save Joseph's and getting him added to Oskar Schindler's list. She wrote her experiences in diaries. He designed posters which a deputy officer noticed so he brought Joseph food. Story after story shows their cheerful outlook, love for those suffering and passion to see a need and help. Both were extremely humble and their rescues only came to light decades later.
Amongst the stories which grabbed my heart and soul most are the blackout shade creations, "An Ode to Bread", harrowing camp illustrations, Bau marriage, reasons for executions, camp "food" such as "jam" and scraping spilled soup from the floor with an old chamber pot, Joseph's tour of Plaszów, liberation, Rebecca's selfless saving of her husband and providing provisions for her children, the Schindler connection, rescues, and tremendous love of this beautiful family. The reminders Joseph wrote about crushed my heart but I can imagine the associations. But the story doesn't end there. The two were honoured with awards and were asked to attend trials to testify against SS Gruen. Their "afters" are detailed as well.
There is no way to do this book sufficient justice. Just please read it. You won't regret one second.
My sincere thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this exceptional book, one I will never forget. And isn't that the point?
October 22, 2025
Ta krótka pozycja to w zasadzie autobiografia człowieka, który przeżył piekło na ziemi, ale który pomimo tego wszystkiego, mam wrażenie patrzy na świat trochę przez różowe okulary. Wspomnienia ocalałego z Holocaustu to coś niezwykle cennego, wartościowego i dla mnie po prostu złotego, gdybym miała określić kolor. „Bau. Artysta na wojnie” to prawdziwe świadectwo człowieka, który żył, kochał, który walczył do samego końca i który przeżył naprawdę bardzo wiele złych chwil w swoim życiu, a mimo wszystko był w stanie napisać tę opowieść i podzielić się nią z innymi. Na pewno wielokrotnie gdy snuł wspomnienia łzy lały się z jego oczu i na pewno trudno mu było wracać pamięcią do niektórych momentów, ale mimo wszystko odważył się i zaprezentował nam swoją historię. Józefa Bau poznałam już kilka lat temu gdy czytałam którąś z wojennych książek, w tym roku czytałam inną o jego życiu, a teraz miałam okazji przeczytać coś bezpośrednio z jego serca, coś co stworzył on sam. I to niesamowite jak ta książka wiele mi dała. Jest wartościowa i przepiękna czego można domyśleć się już czytając opis, ale najlepsze i najcudowniejsze w niej jest to, że po prostu się czuje, że on nigdy się nie poddał i że zawsze wierzył, że po burzy wychodzi słońce. A całą tę opowieść artysta wzbogacił o swoje rysunki, wiersze i zapiski. Miałam ciarki, byłam przerażona, łzy kapały z moich policzków, ale z ogromną przyjemnością przeczytałabym po raz kolejny.
March 2, 2025
My thanks to Net Galley and Blackstone Publishing for an advanced copy of this audiobook. It was so well done and narrated by Assaf Cohen. This true story of Joseph and Rebecca Bau from Poland who lived in the ghetto's and then Palszow Concentration Camp. They were secretly married in the camp, as depicted in Steven Spielberg's movie, Schindler's List.
The book, which I haven't seen, has Joseph Bau's art depicting the ghettos and camp they survived. This book shows the hope and love and even humor that they survived with during this horrific period of time. As many books as I've read on the Holocaust, there were still some new things I learned in this book
The book, which I haven't seen, has Joseph Bau's art depicting the ghettos and camp they survived. This book shows the hope and love and even humor that they survived with during this horrific period of time. As many books as I've read on the Holocaust, there were still some new things I learned in this book
March 26, 2025
Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me a copy of this audiobook. I found myself enjoying the memories of survival and love. Finding love in a place of horrors and find ways to make that love grow. A very humble man filled with courage strength and determination.
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November 27, 2024
Such a powerful book. Hearing the stories of the survivors will always give me a new perspective on life!
Read
May 1, 2025I read a good portion of the book but was unable to read about the vile things that happened in the camps. I had to skim large parts. It is so very horrible.
October 18, 2025
100-25 takes place during a war
November 30, 2025
Well written and interesting. Bau is truly an artist which shines through every sentence of the book.
December 10, 2025
An incredible memoir.
August 31, 2025
Amazing story man’s resilience.
An amazing story of love and survival. It is a shame that young people aren’t required to read this and other story of this horrific time in history. I wish that some of these works were required reading in school.
An amazing story of love and survival. It is a shame that young people aren’t required to read this and other story of this horrific time in history. I wish that some of these works were required reading in school.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews