With “Oberbrechen” and “Zeter+Mordio” the Publication of Two Innovative Graphic Books is Underway
The graphic novel mystery “Zeter und Mordio - Frei nach den Memoiren der Glückel von Hameln” was created for the Geschichtomat educational project in collaboration with Dr. Carmen Bisotti and Hamburg comic artist Jens Cornils. Born Glikl bas Judah Leib in 1647, the Jewish merchant mentions the murders of two members of Hamburg's Jewish community in her memoirs. Based on this source and with the expert advice of historians, Jens Cornils takes (not only) young readers on a journey to 17th century Jewish Hamburg and Altona. “Zeter und Mordio” is published by avant-verlag and can be ordered here.
The English-language Graphic History “Oberbrechen: A German Village Confronts Its Nazi Past”, created by Dr. Kim Wünschmann together with Dr. Stefanie Fischer (Center for Research on Antisemitism, TU Berlin) and illustrator Liz Clarke, presents and interprets a rich and intriguing source collection that documents the lives of Jews and non-Jews in rural Germany before and during the Nazi era. The experiences, questions and discussions of the two historians during their research work are also depicted graphically. The book is supplemented by an extensive collection of sources. “Oberbrechen” is published in the Graphic History Series of Oxford University Press and can be ordered here in printed form or as an e-book.
The IGdJ was represented at this year's Hamburg Comic Festival. The exhibition “Jewish History in Comics - Four Current Positions”, which was shown on 5 and 6 October 2024 in the Hannah Arendt Salon on Schulterblatt, exemplified the possibilities of comics as a medium for presenting and communicating history and a culture of remembrance.
The exhibition kicked off with a panel talk, moderated by comic artist Birgit Weyhe, which explored the collaboration between historians and comic artists: How is it possible to find an artistically appealing and at the same time dignified and authentic approach to historical (and at the same time current) topics and their sources?
Carmen Bisotti, Jens Cornils and Kim Wünschmann were joined by Hannah Brinkmann with her new book “Zeit heilt keine Wunden. The Life of Ernst Grube”, which she wrote and drew in cooperation with the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism and in conversations with the protagonist and contemporary witness Ernst Grube. The Hamburg comic artist and author Sascha Hommer presented his three-part booklet series “Chawerim”, a commissioned work for the Zentrum für Neue Soziale Plastik, in which he depicts episodes of the Hachshara movement, a Jewish movement to prepare young people for (forced) emigration to Palestine.
