Mutter und Kind (Mother and Child), 1928, temporary snow sculpture in Frankfurt

Fred Kormis’ life was interrupted and disrupted by some of the most significant events of the twentieth century, including the First World War and the rise of the Nazis. His career was affected: he experienced displacement and exile and as a result, much of his work has been lost.

Forced to leave Germany by Nazi antisemitism, many of the works that he left behind were later destroyed or damaged during the Second World War. A memorial that he created in bronze in 1931 to commemorate prisoners of war was later melted down by the German army during the Second World War. Other works were destroyed in London during a wartime bombing raid.

Kormis made and commissioned photographs of much of his work, and these preserved images, held in The Wiener Holocaust Library’s collections, create a record of what has been lost. It is believed that the works depicted in these photographs are lost.

Die Luge (The Lie), undated