After Sachsenhausen by Adam Rosenblatt – SEE SAW Comics, Webcomics from the Sequential Artists Workshop

After Sachsenhausen by Adam Rosenblatt

â€œAfter Camp
April 4, 2024â€

All of the following text is written in speech bubbles, paired by the same repeating drawing traced from a photo of Adam as a boy standing with his grandpa, whose hand rests on Adamâ€™s shoulder.

â€œHi again, Grandpa. I went to Sachsenhausen today. On a train, then a taxi, then through the â€˜Arbeit Macht Freiâ€™ gate. One of the staff members there, Agnes, gave us a special tour. I felt bad not speaking any German. English was work for her. For you too, right? One of the things I never got to know was how you sounded when you werenâ€™t effecting in Englishâ€”who you were in your native tongue(s).â€

â€œYou were at Sachsenhausen less than a year, confined to a tiny area of the campâ€¦ I know you had it better there than at Auschwitz, where you were beforeâ€¦ But I was surprised how small an area you lived in that whole time. You and the other counterfeitersâ€¦ To say anything in here I keep having to squeeze my speech bubbles into distorted shapes. Thatâ€™s not a problem youâ€™re having. Whatever you said or didnâ€™t was all justified. Iâ€™m just finding it hard to let go of. Iâ€™m squeezing words into narrow placesâ€

â€œAmanda looked at the date when you were â€˜arrestedâ€™ in the LÃ³dÅº Ghetto, during its final liquidation. People knew the war would likely end soon. They were told if they went on the transports voluntarily their families could stay together. The Nazis said they just needed workers. They put factory equipment on the trains for showâ€¦ You went straight to Auschwitz. You were likely separated from Mira and Bella as soon as you got there. The war would only last another eight months. Somehow you wound up with one other Pole and a bunch of Hungarian Jews at Sachsenhausen. Your intake papers say your wife and daughter were â€˜livingâ€™ at Auschwitzâ€¦your hope, or a cruel Nazi lie? They were surely dead.â€

â€œI get to say anything to you in here. I can make a speech bubble like the big bagels we used to get in Fair Lawn. A big irregular hole at its center. [This speech bubble is shaped like a bagel.] I canâ€™t make you speak, though. I grew up, Grandpa. I donâ€™t look anything like this anymore. And Iâ€™m not sure why I started needing you more, not less, as time passed.â€

â€œWhen we got back from Sachsenhausen to our Airbnb in Berlin, I went straight into a hot bathâ€¦ I brought a piece of chocolate in there. I ate chocolate in the tub. Chocolate for youâ€¦ Because you insisted on giving each grandkid their first taste.â€

â€œIt was so sweet.â€
Instead of the same traced drawing, this page shows the gate to the Sachsenhausen camp, reading â€œArbeit Macht Frei.â€ Beyond it is a field and walking path, with people walking and clouds filling the sky.

â€œAfter Camp April 4, 2024â€ All of the following text is written in speech bubbles, paired by the same repeating drawing traced from a photo of Adam as a boy standing with his grandpa, whose hand rests on Adamâ€™s shoulder. â€œHi again, Grandpa. I went to Sachsenhausen today. On a train, then a taxi, then through the â€˜Arbeit Macht Freiâ€™ gate. One of the staff members there, Agnes, gave us a special tour. I felt bad not speaking any German. English was work for her. For you too, right? One of the things I never got to know was how you sounded when you werenâ€™t effecting in Englishâ€”who you were in your native tongue(s).â€

â€œYou were at Sachsenhausen less than a year, confined to a tiny area of the campâ€¦ I know you had it better there than at Auschwitz, where you were beforeâ€¦ But I was surprised how small an area you lived in that whole time. You and the other counterfeitersâ€¦ To say anything in here I keep having to squeeze my speech bubbles into distorted shapes. Thatâ€™s not a problem youâ€™re having. Whatever you said or didnâ€™t was all justified. Iâ€™m just finding it hard to let go of. Iâ€™m squeezing words into narrow placesâ€

â€œAmanda looked at the date when you were â€˜arrestedâ€™ in the LÃ³dÅº Ghetto, during its final liquidation. People knew the war would likely end soon. They were told if they went on the transports voluntarily their families could stay together. The Nazis said they just needed workers. They put factory equipment on the trains for showâ€¦ You went straight to Auschwitz. You were likely separated from Mira and Bella as soon as you got there. The war would only last another eight months. Somehow you wound up with one other Pole and a bunch of Hungarian Jews at Sachsenhausen. Your intake papers say your wife and daughter were â€˜livingâ€™ at Auschwitzâ€¦your hope, or a cruel Nazi lie? They were surely dead.â€

â€œI get to say anything to you in here. I can make a speech bubble like the big bagels we used to get in Fair Lawn. A big irregular hole at its center. [This speech bubble is shaped like a bagel.] I canâ€™t make you speak, though. I grew up, Grandpa. I donâ€™t look anything like this anymore. And Iâ€™m not sure why I started needing you more, not less, as time passed.â€

â€œWhen we got back from Sachsenhausen to our Airbnb in Berlin, I went straight into a hot bathâ€¦ I brought a piece of chocolate in there. I ate chocolate in the tub. Chocolate for youâ€¦ Because you insisted on giving each grandkid their first taste.â€

â€œIt was so sweet.â€ Instead of the same traced drawing, this page shows the gate to the Sachsenhausen camp, reading â€œArbeit Macht Frei.â€ Beyond it is a field and walking path, with people walking and clouds filling the sky.

Published On: May 22, 2024

A cheery bear says, "Office, sweet office!" A pig cheers, "Yay!" They have arrived in front of a house carved out of a tree-topped hill.

“Couplet" A naked woman sits crouched on the ground, leaning forward so she is almost lying down. "We started as one"

"SAW Presents: Making an Empathy Comic with Andrew Kozlowski, Friday June 7th @ 7pm EST"

"B is Dying" written as branches of a tree

A young boy hugs the horns of a cow. He looks distressed.

"Friday Night Comics presents Georgia Webber: A Rant about Rectangles Friday May 31st 7pm on Zoom" Four Georgias are seen talking passionately or thinking deeply about rectangles

"Free online workshop: Icons Patterns and Textures with Fionn McCabe, Sequential Artists Workshop, Friday May 24 7pm EST"

"After Camp" A traced drawing of Adam as a boy standing with his Grandpa, whose hand rests on Adam's shoulder. Adam says, "Hi again, Grandpa."

"SAW Presents: Exploring Your Comfort Zone Using Comics with Dana Jeri Maier, Friday May 17 7pm ET 4pm PT" A map of a land mass divided in two by a dotted line and surrounded by water and sea monsters.

A hilly landscape with a black sky. Someone from off panel says, "Nelly?"

"SAW presents a virtual comics workshop: Your Celebrity Crush Is In Love With You, with Heather Loase, free and open to all, Friday May 10th, 7pm EST" The title of the workshop is in white block letters over a large red heart, surrounded by small red hearts decorating the graphic. Below the heart, one person is chasing another. The chasee says, "No Barry Keoghan, I will NOT be your date to the Oscars!" Barry Keoghan, holding a bouquet of roses, replies, "I beg ye' to reconsider darlin'"

Two people enter a house that is partially flooded and in disarray. They look shocked.

"Disabled activists fought for an elevator down to light rail but it was shuttered due to misuse. Foot traffic brings the challenges of humanity. For building owners, isolation saves money."

“The Way Above by Adrean Clark My librarian aunt has a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a kid, I climbed the loft high above my hearing family. A row of National Geographic’s formed a tunnel behind her bookshelves. My mind traveled the world without worrying about my Deafness." 3 panels who altogether depict a cityscape view of St. Paul, Minnesota.

Rachel looks at themself in the mirror. They have thick eyebrows, bangs, and wavy hair past their shoulders, rendered in soft blues. They are touching their cheeks with their hands as tears and makeup stream down their face. They look pained, brows furrowed, eyes wide, frowning.

Promo graphic reading “Drawing Sense Memory with Solomon Brager @jbbrager Free Virtual Workshop Friday 5/3 @7pm ET / 4pm PT” A human nose highlighted in pink is sniffing a yellow daffodil; they are composed of half-tone textures.

“When I was in the 5th grade my best friend and I used to name the pigeons in the schoolyard.” A brightly colored screenshot of a Google Maps street view image of a city street, with a cartoon pigeon imposed on it to be part of the scene.

"Krazy Aphorisms Herriman-Kafka"

"SAW Presents: Sketchbook Church with Walker Mettling Fri April 26 7pm EDT Sketchbook Games | Beginners Welcome Free Friday Night Comics Workshop"

A human figure is crouched down on the ground, back against a tree trunk. They are backed away from a pond, from which a huge splash of water rises with a “PLIIP!” The figure is frowning, looking a bit taken aback.

$Christa places her hands over her chest in mourning and cries quietly, tears streaming down her face, eyes closed and head tilted slightly. Two other versions of this image are refracted in the background along with a slight iridescent effect.$

An extreme close up of a human eye. The pupil and iris are completely reflecting a scene of frogs in the mud.

A view from below of wintry trees encircling a ball of light, perhaps the moon on a cloudy night. The title is contained in this orb, lettered in a curveless style in all caps. There are lots of crow-like bird silhouettes perched in the branches of the tree, and it is raining. The scene is rendered in layers of purple, blue, and brown watercolors/gouache, lined with a black brush pen.

Two vultures are perched atop a branch running horizontally across the image, above the bolded text, "A Note From the Creator"

One thought on “After Sachsenhausen by Adam Rosenblatt”

Martha Kuhlman
05/29/2024, 10:33 am
- Reply
Stunning, beautiful! I like the interplay between the speech balloons and the difficult content. The ending is also sharp-sweet like dark chocolate. You have a talent for non-fiction comics!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply