URGENT: Release Dina Babbitt's original Gypsy portraits to her now

Dina Gottliebova Babbitt (aka Dinah), is the artist who was forced to paint and draw the horrible experiments of the Auschwitz doctor known as the Angel of Death, Dr. Josef Mengele. Mengele also commanded her to paint the watercolor portraits of several Gypsies, who were other Auschwitz inmates, in order to capture what he called gypsy skin coloration better than he could do it with his camera and the film of that time. Once the portraits were complete, to Dina's horror, Mengele sent the Gypsies to their death.

According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum's website, seven of the gypsy portraits were discovered after World War II outside the Auschwitz Death Camp, from which they were removed without legal permission, in the early 1970's and sold to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum by people who apparently did not know that the artist, Dina Babbitt, was still alive and living in California. (If this information has been removed from the Museum's website, I still have the save webpage. Contact me to see it on Museum letterhead.) The Museum asked Dina to come to Auschwitz in 1973 to identify her work. However, after she did, the Museum would not allow her to take her paintings home with her. The Museum's refusal to release the paintings to Dina began her re-incarceration as a spiritual hostage of the Auschwitz Death Camp.

Much disinformation has been spread about Dina's purpose in seeking to reclaim her original artwork. The truth is that she has no desire whatever to hide the Gypsy portraits from history. As a matter of fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Once she is in possession of her Gypsy portraits, she wishes to display them in Holocaust museums in the United States, in which she lives free, and around the world. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum displays only copies for security reasons.

The question has been asked "Why did Dina not take the paintings with her when she left?" The reason is that she was on a death march.

A letter was even sent to Dina once saying that if anyone had a right to the paintings it was Josef Mengele. That suggestion is nauseating. I am looking for the original letter and will post it on her website when I find it.

Dina is legally credited by the Museum as being the rightful owner of her artwork and must sign paperwork for the Museum each time it wants to reproduce her work. She has always accommodated the Museum and has never taken any monetary compensation, to which she is entitled, for the reproduction of her work. She has always asked the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum to give any monies earned through the reproductions of her watercolor portraits to go to causes supporting the Gypsy or Roma people. However, to date, the Museum claims that, because it purchased the paintings from other people, the Museum does not have to return Dina's original Gypsy portraits to her. International law has now established that possessing stolen artwork does not entitle the possessor to keep it. The Museum only displays copies of Dina's paintings for security reasons and could easily represent the tragedy of the Gypsies as it does now, with copies of Dina's portraits.

Not one, but two United States Acts of Congress have been written in support of Dina. One was authored by Congresswoman Shelley Berkley. The other was co-authored by Senators Barbara Boxer and Jesse Helms. Both became part of the Congressional Record in 2003. They passed unanimously.

Dina feels that neither, she nor her Gypsy subjects, will ever have their spiritual freedom from the Auschwitz Death Camp until the portraits are returned to her so she may display them in Holocaust museums in the United States and other free countries around the world.

Our mother and we, her family, have been trying to get these paintings returned to her since 1973. Dina, who is now 85, has just been diagnosed with an aggressive form of abdominal cancer and will have surgery on Wednesday, July 23, 2008. The surgery takes six hours and is very risky under the best of circumstances.

We pray to the Museum to return Dina's artwork to her now. We further implore the Museum to not prolong this struggle for years to come after Dina passes from this earth. In addition, we welcome the understanding and support of the Roma people, Dina's friends, in securing the spiritual release of the Roma victims of Auschwitz.

We implore anyone who reads this to support the efforts to get her paintings back now by signing in to her Facebook page and sending an e-mail of support for Dina to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum through the link on that page. In addition, please forward a link to http://www.dinababbitt.com or Dina's Facebook page to every good person that you know.

Thank you for your kindness, empathy, and support.

Michele Kane and Karin Babbitt
Dina's daughters
michele@dinababbitt.com