Anton Witsel
Anton Witsel, My great-grandfather born in Amsterdam in 1911, started his working life selling news papers at the age of fourteen and later, during the years of economic crisis, he took every opportunity to work and make himself a living. In his free hours he never stopped drawing people's daily joys and sadness.
Although being a non-Jew, he refused to sign the Aryan Declaration during the German occupation of the Netherlands from 1940-1945. The atelier he worked at had to be closed down and like so many people in those days, he had to live from hand to mouth.
Because of his attitude, his sincerity and his willingness to soften his fellow-man's suffering he gained the trust of the Jews in Amsterdam. He became the household artist of the Jewish clandestine church in Nieuwe Keizersgracht where he lived. The traditional Jewish relic, the "Thora" (the five books of Moses) was committed to his charge when the raids were held.
In 1958 he saved the Anne Frank House from demolition and later, with permission of the "Texel “company, he carried on a campaign for the preservation of the premises from the Anne Frank House down to Westermarkt 16 with the slogan:
"Not Because of Yesterday, but for Tomorrow".
In these demolished premises he held his now famous exhibition : ''One World, One Human Race".
1944 Drawing
Anton
Witsel
Shelter Synagogue
After the 2011 restoration, Anton Witsel's two drawings were not hung back in their familiar place in the ma'amad. It took a while, but after a drawing was hung back a few years ago, the second drawing is also back in the ma'amd. Now I hear you thinking, drawings by Anton Witsel? What is this about? On the second floor of his house at Nieuwe Keizersgracht 33, Salomon Mendes Coutinho held every Shabbat and Yom to a minyan from the autumn of 1943 until the liberation on Shabbat 5 May 1945. The non-Jewish artist Anton Witsel (1911-1977), who lived at street level, made two drawings of these services. These drawings are now back in the ma'amad. They are dated 27 September 1944 (Kippur) and 8 October 1944 (Hoshangana Rabba). At Hoshangana Rabbah we blow the shofar during the hosha'anot. This explains why a shofar is depicted in this drawing. The Snoge shows that we survived the Inquisition. These drawings in the same complex show that we survived the Holocaust.
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1967 Painting
Anton
Witsel
Painting
The Prophets
In the 1960's, painting 'The Prophets' was Anton's magnum opus. He had been working on it for years. The prophets are grouped around the Ten Commandments in Hebrew letters.
At the top left is the woman (Marijke) as the creator/origin of life. To her right is Moses, the receiver and transmitter of the Ten Commandments. Below Moses the head of Jesus, below right a portrait of Karl Marx. In the bottom row on the left is the head of Mao Tse Tung, the great Chinese leader. To his right is Luud Schimmelpennink, one of the leaders of the Provo movement in the 1960s and creator of the Amsterdam white cart. On the far right is Ilja, the eldest son of Anton and Marijke.