Picturing the Unimaginable

The following information about the graphic novel "Picturing the Unimaginable" was published by the NIOD website on 10 July 2024. 

"Ten talented cartoonists from different backgrounds and ages from the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium created a story from their own perspective in the context of three former Nazi concentration camps in these countries: Gedenkstätte Neuengamme in Germany, the Dossin Barracks in Belgium and Westerbork Memorial. Their work is now being exhibited and simultaneously published in the graphic novel Picturing the Unimaginable in four languages (German, English, French and Dutch).

Eighty-year-old comic book

The project got underway when Bas Kortholt, a researcher at Remembrance Centre Camp Westerbork, cartoonist Erik de Graaf and NIOD researcher Kees Ribbens were inspired by a comic strip Ribbens discovered some time ago in the United States. In an attempt to make somewhat imaginable what was going on in the heart of Europe, August M. Froehlich depicted what happened after the arrival of a deportation train as early as 1944. His comic was published in early 1945 while most of the German death camps were still in full operation.

‘Picturing the Unimaginable’

After the discovery of the American comic strip, the idea arose to explore how contemporary cartoonists would depict the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes today. The result is ten comic strips, which form the heart of the project. In the exhibition, which after Westerbork travels on to Kazerne Dossin in Belgium and then to Gedenkstätte Neuengamme in Germany, the cartoon drawings are contextualised by historical artefacts, special audio-visual excerpts from both experts and eyewitnesses of the horrors, information about the creative process and the motivation of the cartoonists.

As this is an international collaboration, the graphic novel will be published in four languages by publisher Scratch Books. The exhibition will be on display at Westerbork Memorial until 1 September. More information about the opening on Friday, 19 July can be found on the website of Westerbork Memorial." 

Inspired by the graphic novel Picturing the Unimaginable, Dr. Tatia Gruenbaum met with Bas Kortholt (Camp Westerbork) in August 2024. Bas was coordinating the graphic novel and its travelling exhibition and was interested in a university course pilot project.

Supported by Prof. Dr Carmen Becker, Tatia, together with Jan Rauhut and Merle Bierman, developed a hybrid (elective) course with an online-only option for students residing abroad. The course was designed for a mixed-discipline cohort and focused on exploring the contribution visual children’s Holocaust literature (picturebooks and graphic novels) could make to supporting GCED and promoting the UNCRC. It also included a collaborative element with (ITESS) student teachers at NHS Stenden (NL) and their teacher educator, Heike Tattje, during the final graphic-novel-based workshop days.

The course was well attended and received. And so, it will continue to run in 25/26, thus contributing to the need for the virtual exhibition project. (Read more below)

To promote the course 'Picturing the Unimaginable, posters were put up across the TU Braunschweig Campus Nord. The promotional efforts were successful. 

Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik der Technischen Universität Braunschweig

• Dr. Tatia Gruenbaum | tatia.gruenbaum(at)tu-braunschweig.de
• Prof. Dr. Carmen Becker | c.becker(at)tu-braunschweig.de
• Merle Biermann | merle.biermann(at)tu-braunschweig.de
• Jan Rauhut | j.rauhut(at)tu-braunschweig.de 
• Le Thuc Anh Mai | l.mai(at)tu-braunschweig.de
   

Camp Westerbork Memorial Centre

• Bas Kortholt | bas(at)kampwesterbork.nl
   

The NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies 

• Prof. Dr. Kees Ribbens | k.ribbens(at)niod.knaw.nl

From April to July 2025, the travelling exhibition of the graphic novel Picturing the Unimaginable was displayed at TU Braunschweig. This exhibition was on loan from Camp Westerbork to support a newly designed hybrid course, designed and taught by Dr. Tatia Gruenbaum for the Institute for English and American Studies. As the course received positive feedback and would thus be offered again, the question arose how access to the travelling exhibition for future course participants could be ensured. 

The idea of creating a virtual edition was proposed. And so, before the travelling exhibition was packed up and moved to Ladelund Concentration Camp & Memorial (Germany) in July 2025, Le Thuc Anh Mai and Jan Rauhut began digitalising the displays and the exhibition itself. 

If you want to access the exhibition, click here: 

PICTURING THE UNIMAGINABLE - The Virtual Exhibition Project

When we, Jan and I (Thuci), were presented with the idea of creating a virtual edition of the Picturing the Unimaginable travelling exhibition, we were both enthusiastic. We are both MA students in Education, attached to the Institute for English and American Studies (TU Braunschweig). Jan is majoring in History and worked closely together with Dr. Gruenbaum to develop the PtU course, while my major is in Art Education and Fine Arts.

To begin this project, we collected materials by photographing and filming the displays and reviewing the audio files. After experimenting with different ways to combine visuals and text, we finally decided to use a ‘Google Street View’ approach to enter the exhibition. This approach seemed to offer an accessible visitor experience and came closest to the atmosphere of the original physical exhibition.

It was important for us to be respectful towards the exhibition, the content, its artists, and their work. The greatest challenge for us was to conceptualise the exhibition in a way that would reflect this aim. 

For those who wish to explore further, please 'Enter the Exhibition'.

Here are two videos.
The first one showcases the setting up of the exhibition at TU Braunschweig Campus Nord.
The second one offers more insights from Bas Kortholt, historian and researcher at Camp Westerbork Memorial Centre.