# UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM

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## Humor in the Beifeld album

The uniqueness of the Beifeld album lies not only in its richness of illustration and detail of description, but in the charm of its author's sense of humor, which is displayed on nearly every page. Beifeld found himself caught in the bitterly ironic situation of being a Jewish conscript in one antisemitic army (Hungary) fighting against another antisemitic regime (Stalinist Russia) at the behest of a third, genocidal power (Nazi Germany). To cope with the awful absurdity of his situation, Beifeld resorted to a biting, sardonic form of literary and artistic expression. The humor is expressed through tongue in cheek descriptions, double entendres, sarcastic anecdotes and shocking juxtapositions in his drawings and collages.

Examine pages from the album by clicking on See artifacts and using the zoom tool to select and magnify areas of the image.

Read more about Beifeld's visual memoir and explore pages from sections of the album: introduction; in the labor service; counteroffensive and retreat; assembling the album.

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