“AGONY” BY MICHAEL SCHRECK (1901-1999) REMARKABLY RARE ARTWORK - A NEW ACQUISITION BY THE BEN URI GALLERY ALAN MORGENROTH
DATE October 2023 SOURCE Courtesy of the Author
“Agony” by Michael Schreck (1901-1999) Remarkably Rare Artwork - Warth Mill Internment Camp A New Acquisition By The Ben Uri Gallery Alan Morgenroth
Ben Uri Gallery and Museum have announced the acquisition of a very rare depiction of the infamous Warth Mill Internment Camp by the Austrian Jewish refugee artist Michael Schreck which they bought at an auction in New York in July 2023 using their acquisition reserve fund. The provenance for the painting was strong, having once been donated by the artist to the Boca Raton Museum of Art in 1991. However, little did Ben Uri know that the provenance of this painting could be traced back to the first Onchan Camp Art Exhibition in August 1940. This essay reveals the true significance of this painting using a multitude of archives and new sources, including documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act and the discovery of hitherto unpublished contemporary photographs. Historian and researcher Alan Morgenroth uses this painting to illustrate the history of UK internment policies in World War II and how these policies impacted one refugee artist and his family. Hitherto, the only well-known illustrations of the infamous Warth Mill Internment Camp were lino or wood cuts by Hellmuth Weissenborn and Hermann Fechenbach. The former 1
created a lino cut titled Leaving Warth Mill for Douglas on the Isle of Man1 which was produced whilst he was interned at Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man and printed using an old, repurposed washing mangle. Fechenbach was been a radical activist and out-spoken critic of the conditions at Warth Mill and, in protest, he organised and led a hunger-strike. Post internment, between 1941 and 1946, he produced a series of twentytwo woodcuts titled My Impressions as a Refugee which include three images of Warth Mill, Lavatory Meeting 1942, Hunger Strike 1 1942, and Hunger Strike 2 1943, which were all created retrospectively2. By contrast Schreck’s “Agony” Warft Mills [sic]3 was painted in the camp during his brief ten day stay and is therefore much more evocative of the dark and dirty conditions in a large room with broken windows. A single internee sits slumped over the end of a wooden bed with internees’ meagre belongings hung from nails and hooks protruding from the crumbling walls. A line of undergarments is drying on a makeshift washing line and the allotted two blankets per man are folded on some of the wooden beds. However, “Agony” only superficially relates to the physical conditions within the camp; the true “Agony” was the mental anguish suffered by Schreck and his fellow internees. Schreck had been abruptly torn without notice from his wife and two young children, stripping him of his ability to look after and provide for them, or to run and manage his thriving clothing manufacturing business. Both aspects are discussed later in this essay.
Background to WW2 internment in the UK The UK military authorities became paranoid about a hidden Fifth Column of Nazi sympathisers hidden within the refugee population. After the outbreak of war, all 75,000 German and Austrian living in the UK were assessed by tribunals to assess their threat to national security. Those considered an immediate threat were put in Category A and interned immediately. Where the tribunals had some reservations, individuals were placed in Category B maintaining their liberty but with some restrictions on what they could own and how far they could travel. Those who were considered refugees from Nazi-oppression were placed in Category C at liberty with no restrictions on their liberty. was a real logistical problem. The problem was exacerbated when Italy joined the war on 10 June and around 4,000 Italian men were added to the number of those interned. In May 1940, the threat of invasion of the UK led to the arrest of all men aged 16 to 60 living in protected areas on the East and South coasts (12 May) followed by the Category B men (16 May) and the Category C women (28 May). 1
Hellmuth Weissenborn https://www.warthmillsproject.com/internees/hellmuth-weissenborn/ 2 https://www.hermannfechenbach.com/page/original_prints.html 3 The Cotton Mill is regularly referred to as both ‘Warth Mill’ and ‘Warth Mills’ although the former is almost certainly the correct version. However, the internees used many different spellings at the time since they are unlikely to have seen the name written down. Most common, are variations on ‘Warf Mill’. Schreck on “Agony” has spelt it ‘Warft Mills’ which is yet further confirmation of the contemporary nature of this painting.
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Within just over 2 weeks, over 5,000 men and 3,000 women and their dependent children had been arrested and finding them accommodation. Hastily constructed temporary transit camps were set up across the UK which included racecourses, army barracks, drill halls, a newly constructed empty council housing estate outside Liverpool and Warth Mill, a large disused cotton mill in Bury. These sites were used to house the interned men until more permanent sites had been finished on the Isle of Man or the most dangerous of their number had been deported to internment camps in Canada or Australia. Warth Mill had been disused and empty for at least 5 years by the time it was requisitioned by the military for use as a temporary internment camp in 1940, the vast three storey building had fallen into disrepair with a decaying structure, leaking roof, and broken windows. The building still contained the remnants of disused machinery, and the floors were rotten and covered in oil and other debris. Although a large space, the building was completely unsuitable for the imprisonment of large numbers of internees as the lack of washing and toilet facilities was extreme. The internees had several nicknames for the building including ‘Rats Mill’41 or ‘Wrath Mill’5.
Michael Henry Schreck pre-war background Michael Henry Schreck was born in Tarnow, to American Jewish parents, on 13 July 1901 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (in an area that became Poland after 1918). He was an American citizen by virtue of his parents’ nationality until 19 March 1929 when he applied and was granted Austrian naturalisation. He attended schools in Tarnow and Vienna until 1919 and subsequently studied art in Vienna until 1923, when, upon the death of his father, he took over the family business in Vienna manufacturing ladies’ fashions; a business which continued until the 1938 Anschluss.6 Schreck made frequent business trips to the UK from 1934 and he established Vienna Fashions Limited to manufacture dresses of Viennese design in London at the end of 1935 This showed astute forethought, having observed the Nazi’s accession to power in neighbouring Germany. Immediately after the Anschluss in March 1938 he moved permanently to the UK to run this business, which he renamed Michael Henry Limited and was based in Regent Street London W1.7 Schreck was fortunate that having been Austrian rather than German as he was able to transfer some of his wealth in Austria to invest in a British business prior to 1938. He appears to have had considerable independent means reflected by the fact he owned a car, and this is corroborated by his records held by the Central British Fund (CBF) which notes he had access to approximately £10008 in funds in the Westminster bank9. 4 Bilbo, Jack: Jack Bilbo an autobiography, 1948 p. 220 5 Pistol p. 36 or Jacobsthal, Memoirs 6 Special Branch report 18 January 1947 as part of Schreck’s application for British Citizenship. TNA HO 405/47682. 1-2 accessed via a freedom of information request July 2023 7 Ibid p.2 8 Over £50,000 in 2023 values. 9 The CBF is now known as World Jewish Relief (WJR)- WJR Archive case file A18919.
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At the outbreak of war in September 1939 he was living with his wife and two young children, Evelyn and Peter in Oxford10 and on 10th October they were assessed by the Oxford Enemy Alien Tribunal where both Michael and Alice were placed in Category B. Schreck had been convicted and fined for five motoring offenses between July 1938 and February 1939 and this is likely to have been sufficient to justify the cautionary B categorisation. Being placed in Category B left the individuals at liberty but with certain restrictions placed upon them, such as not being permitted to own a camera, binoculars, radio, bicycle, or car and a permit was required to allow travel more than five miles from their place of residence. For most this was not too onerous, however with the Schreck living with his family in Oxford and running his business in London this had significant consequences. As a result, Michael was obliged to find accommodation in London and moved to a flat in Willesden, North London, whilst Alice and the children remained in Oxford11.
Internment Kempton Park and Warth Mills Without warning, Michael Schreck was arrested early on Thursday 16th May 1940 at his flat in Willesden. This roundup affected some 1500 B Category enemy aliens across London, and they were taken to various collection points including police stations, Wembley Stadium, and military barracks. From these centres they were bussed to a newly setup internment camp which had been created at Kempton Park Racecourse in the southwestern suburbs of London. Michael Schreck was one of the first internees sent to Warth Mill when around 1,200 men were transferred there from Kempton Park Racecourse on 2 June 1940. The vast majority of these men, like Schreck, were Category B internees arrested in London and the southeast on 16 May 1940. Without exception, internees condemned the physical conditions in the camp, however most accounts report that the food, although mundane, was more plentiful than at Kempton Park, which suggests Fechenbach’s hunger strike only made his conditions worse. Communication with the outside world at this time was difficult and letters took a long time to be received as both outgoing and incoming mail had to be censored in Liverpool. Parcels containing essential supplies did arrive quicker as they were sent direct to the camps provided they contained no correspondence. However, due to the short stays in these transit camps the internees had often moved on before the letters or parcels arrived. For Schreck this would have been one of the most significant contributions to his “Agony”. Not only had his liberty been taken away for an undetermined period but it is likely he had little idea of what was happening to his wife and children. Twelve days after his internment, at the end of his stay at Kempton Park, his wife and two children were arrested on 28 May, and transported the next day for internment 10 11
1939 Register TNA Regional Advisory Committee Tribunal Card TNA HO 396/195
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at Port Erin (Rushen Camp) on the Isle of Man.12 To make matters worse he had no way of maintaining and running his business. Within 10 weeks of his internment his business creditors had applied to the high court for the company to be wound up.13 With the squalid conditions in the camp, and these worries weighing heavy on his mind it was not surprising he was in “Agony”. Fortunately, the internees’ stay at Warth Mill was only ever designed to be a temporary measure while the ‘permanent’ camps on the Isle of Man were being prepared, and after about 10 days, they were transferred to the newly opened Onchan Internment Camp on the Isle of Man.
Onchan Internment Camp Onchan is small parish on the northern outskirts of Douglas on the Isle of Man’s east coast. Prior to the war most of the area was made up of boarding houses for the British tourists who flocked to the Isle for their annual holidays. It appears that the first 1200 internees transferred to Onchan all arrived on 11 June from Warth Mill with a further 300 a few days later.14 Art in the camp flourished under the auspices of ‘The Popular University’, with Jack Bilbo as the founder, Professor Kestner the president and Heinz Kiewe the secretary. The first art exhibition to be held in the camp was a private exhibition by Hermann Nonnenmacher in his house in the middle of August 1940 which was evidently a preview of the entries he was to exhibit a couple of weeks later at the first public art exhibition organised by Bilbo from 26 to 30 August 1940.15 It was held in one of the two timber framed buildings at the north end of Belgravia Road. The first building housed the camp canteen and the other a communal social area which became known as Bilbo’s Cabin and was used for art exhibitions and other theatrical and musical performances.
12 Tribunal Card HO 396/ TNA and Internment Card HO 396/ TNA 13 Special Branch Report 14 Camp returns show 1,201 residents on 15 June, and 1,498 by 22 June. Manx National Archives MS 06472) 15 This is almost certainly the first internee art exhibition on the Isle of Man during WW2.
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First Onchan Art Exhibition Michael Schreck exhibited his paintings in the first Onchan Camp Art Exhibition which was advertised: “THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY” Onchan Internment Camp Isle of Man “INTERNED ARTISTS EXHIBITION” at Bilbo’s Cabin 26th to 30th August 1940
Catalogue price 1d
Photograph of first Onchan Art Exhibition in Bilbo’s Cabin
Picture Credit: Digitally enhanced image © Pistol-Morgenroth.
The catalogue for the exhibition detailed 191 works of art across a wide variety of mediums, including drawings, paintings, sculpture, wood carvings, and photographs and were produced by twenty-two artists including Schreck. (Appendix II). Some were known established artists including Nonnenmacher, Bilbo, de Roessingh and Bertram, others were from the world of film or the performing arts whilst a few were talented amateurs or students, some of whom would go on to become established artists later in life. The motto which Bilbo has coined for this exhibition was ‘The world is a cage, forged by human stupidity; Art will break this cage.’16 Above is one of series of eight official photographs discovered by the author which record the first Onchan August 1940 art exhibition and are hitherto are unpublished. 16
Onchan Pioneer No.4 23 August 1940
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The Onchan Pioneer No.5 of 31 August reported that the exhibition was officially opened by the camp’s Commandant, Lord Greenway, accompanied by Lieut. Hurley with Bilbo giving a speech.17 Bilbo thanked the officers for coming and stated, The purpose if this exhibition is threefold… first, we wanted to create something for our comrades, second, we wanted to give our comrades who are artists a purpose and an opportunity to resume work and third, and perhaps most important, we wanted to demonstrate to all what kind of people are in this camp.18 A two-page review of the exhibition by Hans Bodansky followed in German: This exhibition was more than a success. It was a revelation for all of us who were deeply impressed by the high standard of the exhibited works. Jack Bilbo and his fellow artists have a right to be proud of their work. Schreck’s contribution was reviewed as ‘SCHRECK exhibits a number of really good watercolours. It’s amazing how much inspiration Schreck has gleaned from our internment.’19 In his biography Bilbo when talking about the exhibition said ‘Never was an art exhibition better visited. We had a public of 2000 people who, whether they liked it or not, had to see the show as there was nothing else to do.’20 One of the eight photographs features the Scheck contributions which includes a selfportrait and a collection of drawings and paintings of life in Warth Mill and Onchan. Despite the quality of the image, it is just possible to discern that “Agony” was shown as item 179 of this exhibition! Close examination suggests Schreck exhibited twenty Onchan views and just two of Warth Mill. The second Warth Mill picture outlined in blue is much smaller. Hopefully one day this picture will also surface, and we will then be able to appreciate the detail.
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Onchan Pioneer No.5, 31 August 1940, p.6 Ibid p.6 Ibid p.6/7 Translation: Google translate edited by the author. Bilbo, Jack p.221
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The Second Onchan Art Exhibition 26th October to 6th November 1940 The second art exhibition staged by Bilbo in his cabin was at the end of October/beginning of November which, like the first exhibition was of mixed media but had the additional elements of an exhibition of Christmas cards, and a variety of musical performances. Hanns Schaffen reviewed the exhibition in the Onchan Pioneer and recorded that there had been a remarkable improvement from the first exhibition. The review on Schreck’s contribution stated ‘The portrait of Prof. Friedmann is excellent’ (The Onchan Pioneer No.11, 29 October 1940)
Schreck the Portrait Artist. Solo exhibition April 1941 In the first art exhibitions Schreck included a self-portrait (right) and prior to the second art exhibition he painted a portrait of fellow internee Ernst Urbach (left), who was a baritone and sang at the camp concerts. Ben Uri Gallery displayed this portrait in their 2018 ‘Out of Austria Exhibition’. Schrecks’ portrait of Dr Willi Salomon was published in the Onchan Pioneer No. 26 on 23 February 1942. “Ernst Isle of Man”(Ernst Urbach) private collection
Self-portrait; enhanced detail from an official photograph, TNA HO 213. © Pistol-Morgenroth
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Another of his portraits was of the Rev John Duffield who was the vicar of Onchan Parish and a great friend and advocate for the internees, taking services and teaching in the Popular University. There is no catalogue for Schreck’s portrait exhibition held in April 1941, however the following extract ¬¬is the review in the Onchan Pioneer No33. by unidentified critic ‘Ben’. For one of the most interesting exhibitions shown in this camp we have to thank our friend Michael Schreck. His portraits reveal a rare and remarkable ability to express the innermost psychology of his models… He has a striking gift to underline the personality of the sitter by the arrangement of hands and the use of light and shadow. I am sure that this exhibition shown wherever outside the camp would arouse equal appreciation.21
Port Erin Married Camp and release from internment In the Onchan Pioneer No.37 11 May 1941 the Camp Supervisor wrote that 114 brother internees left Onchan for the newly established married camp in Port St Mary to be reunited with their wives and children. It also records that 60 further comrades were still waiting to be reunited with their families. Schreck had to wait three weeks until 6 June 1941 before he could join Alice and his children. The fact that Michael Schreck was still interned over a year after his arrest demonstrates that he was either unwilling or unable to join the Pioneer Corps and that there was no opportunity to be released to work on his own account. His file at the CBF shows that from May 1941 the CBF were corresponding with various firms in the fashion trade who might give Schreck a job, to enable the Ministry of Labour to authorise his release.22 It was not until October that the CBF secured him a position and his release was authorised on 23 October 1941. The family were finally released and left the Isle of Man on 7 November 1941.23 Upon his release, Schreck arranged for his creditors to be paid in full and the High Court ceased the winding up of his company on 23 September 1942, however a condition of his release was that he took employment as export manager with A. Rosner and Sons Limited, ladies’ clothing manufacturer, 8 Grosvenor Street, W1, and he still held this position in January 1947. In June 1946, he was also employed as the export and general manager of Rensita Limited, ladies’ clothing manufacturers, also at 8 Grosvenor Street, a company run side by side with A. Rosner. He received no salary from these companies but worked as a commission agent which, for the three years 1944-46, he averaged over £5,000 a year. This was a considerable sum and is the equivalent of over £250,000 in today’s values.24 Schreck and his family became British Citizens on 11 February 1947.
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Review of Schreck’s Portrait Exhibition by Ben. The Onchan Pioneer No. 33, 13 April 1941 p.8 CBF: case file A18919 Tribunal and Internment Cards HO 396/ TNA for both Michael and Alice Schreck Special Branch Report 1947
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Schreck’s artistic career 1948 to 1999 What prompted Schreck’s change of direction is unclear, however, in 1948 he emigrated from the UK to Canada. One speculation is that it is possible he became a victim of his own success as a highly successful commission agent. When agents earn too much employing firms often decide it would be cheaper to employ their own staff rather than continue to pay agent fees. What is clear is that after his immigration to Canada, he returned to his first love which was art. As a commercial artist he exhibited widely in North America, Europe and Israel and was proficient in a multitude of artistic genres. His work included portraits, landscapes, riverscapes and latterly, abstracts, as well as sculpture, including modernist marbles and bronzes in a Brutalist manner. In the late 1950’s he emigrated once more, this time to the USA where he remained until died at his home in Hollywood, Florida, USA on 2 August 1999. A book on Shreck’s sculpture by Alfred Werner was published in 197525, which was followed by a supplement Michael Schreck - Recent Sculpture 1975-197726. In 1981 he published his autobiography, Michael Schreck; Life and Work 1931-198127. Schreck exhibited at the Museum of Fine Art, Montreal (1953-56) and the Dom Gallery, Montreal (1954-56). In 1949 Schreck also visited Paris, meeting Fernand Leger and Andre’ Lhote. He later exhibited at the Museum of Art Modern, Paris, in 1964 and in the same year was awarded the Grand Prix International, Deauville and a ‘Mention Grand Finale’ at the Prix International de Vichy, also winning the Prix Rencontre International, Chateau de Senou, France in 1965. Schreck visited Italy and became a member of the Accademia Italia. His commissions included a Mexican mural at Thomaston, New York in 1969; and a piece for the sculpture garden, R. Gimbel, New York; and he became a member of The American Federation of Arts. He exhibited at Jersey City Museum, New Jersey in 1959, held a solo exhibition at the Selected Artists Gallery, New York, 1961, and participated in group exhibitions at the Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami, Florida and the Dominion Gallery, Montreal, in the 1970s. He received the City of Hollywood Appreciation Award for the Masada Monument, unveiled in May 1974, at Temple Sinai. His work is represented in the Ben Uri Collection in the UK, and internationally in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel, and the following collections in the USA: Boca Raton Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, and Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida; The Currier Museum of Arts, Manchester, New Hampshire; and Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntingdon, MoMA and the New York University Collection/Grey Art Gallery, New York. Schreck exhibited at the Museum of Fine Art, Montreal (1953-56) and the Dom Gallery, Montreal (1954-56). In 1949 Schreck also visited Paris, meeting Fernand Leger and Andre’ Lhote. He later exhibited at the Museum of Art Modern, Paris, in 1964 and in the 25 Werner, Alfred; Michael Schreck Sculpture. University of Miami Press 1975 26 Michael Schreck - Recent Sculpture 1975-1977, Catalogue Raisonne, Graphic Press, Inc., Hollywood, FL 1977 27 Michael Schreck; Life and Work 1931-1981. (Michael Schreck; A Pictorial Autobiography) Richard A. Madigan (text). Max Stern (Preface). Norton Gallery of Art.
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same year was awarded the Grand Prix International, Deauville and a ‘Mention Grand Finale’ at the Prix International de Vichy, also winning the Prix Rencontre International, Chateau de Senou, France in 1965. Schreck visited Italy and became a member of the Accademia Italia. His commissions included a Mexican mural at Thomaston, New York in 1969; and a piece for the sculpture garden, R. Gimbel, New York; and he became a member of The American Federation of Arts. He exhibited at Jersey City Museum, New Jersey in 1959, held a solo exhibition at the Selected Artists Gallery, New York, 1961, and participated in group exhibitions at the Gloria Luria Gallery, Miami, Florida and the Dominion Gallery, Montreal, in the 1970s. He received the City of Hollywood Appreciation Award for the Masada Monument, unveiled in May 1974, at Temple Sinai. His work is represented in the Ben Uri Collection in the UK, and internationally in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel, and the following collections in the USA: Boca Raton Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Jacksonville Museum of Contemporary Art, and Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida; The Currier Museum of Arts, Manchester, New Hampshire; and Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntingdon, MoMA and the New York University Collection/Grey Art Gallery, New York.
Appendix 1 Summary of internment timeline for the Schreck family: Michael Schreck Internment – Arrested Willesden NW2 Category B, 16 May, 1940 Camp From To Duration Kempton Park 16/05/1940 02/06/1940 17 days Warth Mill 02/06/1940 11/06/1940 10 days Onchan Isle of Man 11/06/1940 06/06/1941 11½ months Port St Mary Married Camp 06/06/1941 07/11/1941 5 months Released Ministry of Labour to work for A Rosner and Sons 07/11/1942 Alice Schreck & Children’s Internment – Arrested Oxford Category B, 28 May, 1940 Camp From To Duration Unknown collecting centre 28/05/1940 29/05/1940 1 day Rushen Camp – Port Erin 29/05/1940 06/06/1941 12 Months Port St Mary Married Camp 06/06/1941 07/11/1941 5 months Released as category changed from B to C
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Appendix 2 Catalogue First Art Exhibition
Catalogue Second Art Exhibition
Concert Program 8th October 1940
