Etched in Flesh and Soul: The Auschwitz Number in Art (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9783110739916)

A series of numbers was tattooed on prisoners' forearms only at one
location - the Auschwitz concentration camp complex. Children, parents,
grandparents, mostly Jews but also a significant number of non-Jews
scarred for life. Indelibly etched with a number into their flesh and
souls, constantly reminding them of the horrors of the Holocaust.

References
to the Auschwitz number appear in artworks from the Holocaust period
and onwards, by survivors and non-survivor artists, and Jewish and
non-Jewish artists. These artists refer to the number from Auschwitz to
portray the Holocaust and its meaning. This book analyzes the place that
the image of the Auschwitz number occupies in the artist's
consciousness and how it is grasped in the collective perception of
different societies. It discusses how the Auschwitz number is used in
public and private Holocaust commemoration. Additionally, the book
describes the use of the Auschwitz number as a Holocaust icon to
protest, warn, and fight against Holocaust denial.