There is an interesting obituary in Sunday's New York Times about a holocaust survivor who survived--or was spared by Dr. Josef Mengele--because she could paint. Mengele who wanted to prove the genetic inferiority of Romany or Gypsy prisoners was unhappy with the photographs being taken of those people, particularly of the skin-tone they depicted. He found Dinah Gottliebova, a Czech prisoner and artist and had her paint portraits of the prisoners and also murals for a children's ward. Gottliebova was spared and was also able to save her mother.
You can read the Times' obituary here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/arts/02babbitt.html?scp=1&sq=dina%20babbitt&st=cse
For the last 60 years of her life the artist tried to get her paintings back from the museum at Auschwitz, to no avail. Gottliebova's struggle (she changed her name to Dina when she came to the States and Babbitt was her married last name) is chronicled in the documentary posted here.
No real advertising point. But I guess this says something about integrity and pride in one's work. See, I told you there was no real advertising point.
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