Mikhail Savitsky

People's Artist, Hero of Belarus Mikhail Savitsky went through the war, concentration camps and excruciating tortures and became one of the most remarkable artists of the 20th century. He said: "I have earned the right to tell the truth...". He was born in Vitebsk Oblast in 1922. When the Great Patriotic War broke out, Mikhail went to the front following his three brothers and was the only one who came back home. He survived 250 days of heroic defense of Sevastopol, the last battle at the Chersonese lighthouse, four days without water and bread. He was wounded, captured, sent to transit camps in Bakhchysarai and Nikolayev, deported to Germany... In total, Mikhail Savitsky spent 2 years and 9 months in Nazi death camps: Stalag 326, a prisoner-of-war work camp in Düsseldorf at the wagon factory, where he became a member of a sabotage resistance group. The group tried to escape to France, but was captured. Mikhail was to be executed along with his comrades, but the execution was replaced by the Buchenwald extermination camp. Then he was sent to the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, then to Dachau. During another attempt to break free, he ended up in a penal barrack, from which there was only one way out – to the crematorium. Fortunately, on 29 April 1945, the long-awaited release came. Despite being unfit for military service because of poor health, Savitsky stayed with the Red Army until 1947 and was stationed in Germany and Hungary. Years later, the artist created one of the most heartbreaking and impressive series in his work – Numbers on the Heart. These 16 paintings are filled with symbolism and incredibly accurate account of the horrors committed by the Nazis in concentration camps. Mikhail Savitsky is a Man and a Master who had the greatest influence on the national visual art. The artist's works reflect not only his personal fate, but also important historical events that the Belarusian people faced in the second half of the 20th century. The key themes of his art are the tragedy of the Great Patriotic War, partisan movement, peaceful life and labor, motherhood, biblical scenes, environmental protection and the Chernobyl disaster.