Portraits against night and fog: resistance in the heart of the concentration camp universe

Death was a constant companion of resistance fighters, often coming hand in hand with the risk of disappearing without a trace, particularly in concentration camps. A handful of deported resistance fighters chose to continue their struggle by depicting scenes of camp life and/or of their fellow prisoners. This article is based mainly on the 203 drawings produced by the Frenchman Camille Delétang between mid-September 1944 and early April 1945, when he was interned in the “Hecht” kommando of Buchenwald camp. Produced with the help of a network of accomplices, these drawings provide information about the resistance in action at Buchenwald and then at “Hecht”. They also demonstrate a willingness to a desire to combat the planned dehumanisation and invisibilisation of prisoners. Lost during the evacuation of the kommando, rediscovered in 2012, these drawings are a reminder of the silence that often accompanied the end of the Nazi concentration camp system and the deportees’ homecoming from the camps.