English: Inscribed “To the memory of my darling Mother, murdered by the Germans somewhere in the Ghettos of Poland…” Hitler, Goring, Goebbels, and Himmler are gathered around a table upon which is imprinted “Gestapo reports 2,000,000 Jews executed. Heil Hitler.” Behind them hangs a skull and crossbones banner labeled “European Coprosperity”. The faces presented here show signs of disgruntlement. Only two million? Europe needs more prosperity than this! “We’re running short of Jews…” Within the intricate detailing and ubiquitous crosshatching Szyk chose to subtly repeat the skull and crossbones imagery imbedding the motif repeatedly in the uniforms of Hitler’s henchman where it appears on their epaulettes, armbands, hat brim and chest. This most potent of euphemisms for Death is well chosen for an illustration demonstrating one of Szyk’s most profound indictments against the unfolding horrors of the Holocaust.From 1942 onwards, Szyk’s Holocaust imagery had gotten increasingly more pugnacious for in September of that year Hitler had repeated his prophecy of 1939 which was to carry out the extermination of the Jewish “race”. Part of this annihilation unfortunately included Szyk’s own mother who had been deported from the Lodz Ghetto to the Chelmek killing center that same September. It is important to realize how little publicity news of the Jewish genocide was being given in America at this time. Those who had something at stake were already keenly aware of the desperation in Europe but those who did not preferred to see it buried on the back pages with the “religious news”. Szyk’s artwork and the increasing outrage of Jewish American organizations helped to tear the veil off of Hitler’s final solution. Here, in stark black and white, Szyk boldly showed the world exactly what was going on.This is undoubtedly one of Szyk’s most important Holocaust related works of art calling attention to Germany’s planned annihilation of European Jewry. Furthermore, it is the only known work of art dedicated by Szyk to his beloved mother and, as such, has a singular place in the hierarchy of Szyk’s art. Ink&Blood, a Book of Drawings. Plate XXIII. New York: Heritage Press, 1946. PM Newspaper. July 20, 1943. Der Morgen Journal. July 21, 1943; Der Morgen Journal. July 23, 1944. Army and Navy Review. Friday, January 19, 1945. Art and Politics of Arthur Szyk. USHMM, p. 101.