Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Dina Babbitt petition

Dina Gottliebova Babbitt, 83, in her home. Mrs. Babbitt has been attempting to recreate the paintings she created at Auschwitz.

Here's an amazing story that I meant to post a couple of weeks ago when Tom Sito and Mark Mayerson both emailed me about it. Follow the link -- it tells the story far better than I can paraphrase, but briefly Dina Babbitt, Auschwitz survivor and animation artist, has been trying to get back the paintings she made while in Auschwitz over 60 years ago. She's been trying to get her art back for some time, and her story is back in the news because some prominent comic and animation professionals, led by Joe Kubert, have started a petition. . .

Here's a link to the petition, along with the email address of the museum in Poland where it should be sent. I understand why the museum director wants to keep this artwork in Poland -- these paintings are a heartbreaking piece of history, and doubtless help make what happened at Auschwitz that much more real to anyone who visits the site. But then I imagine Dina's experiences (as much as one can imagine the unimaginable), and of having to paint literally under the threat of death. Whatever those paintings may mean to others, Dina Babbitt created them, and they should be hers to do with as she pleases.

Take a few minutes to read her story, and the petition, and consider signing it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dina Gottliebova Babbitt was the second wife of legendary animator Art Babbitt.

Our records show that starting in the early 1950s she was at Lew Bunin Productions, the Billancourt studio in Paris, Warner Bros., Bill Melendez, Phil Duncan, Reel 3 and Hanna-Barbera. She joined Local 839 in 1965 as an assistant animator at Filmfair. She worked for Format, Bakshi, Krantz and again briefly for Warner Bros.

Cartoon Brew says she worked on Tweety and Wile E. Coyote cartoons and Cap'n Crunch commercials.

Unknown said...

WHY CAN'T MRS. BABBITT BE FILMED RECREATING HER PAINTINGS & THEN THE REPRODUCTIONS & THE FILM COULD BE AN EXHIBIT AT THE MUSEUM ? IN EXCHANGE, THE MUSEUM COULD RETURN THE ORIGINALS TO MRS. BABBITT. DANIEL BASSLER EMAIL : dfb33064@gmail.com

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