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Arthur (Alter) Ritov

Born in Riga, Russian Empire, in 1909. Died in Tel-Aviv, Israel, in 1988.

"In addition to his talent as an artist, Arthur also exhibited compassion. […]. It was as if he had been sent to us to inspire each one of us with a touch of bravery and infuse us with vitality: as long as we are still alive, we are not to lose faith in the Jewish people and their survival."

Meir Levinstein, On the Edge of the Abyss, (trans. from Russian) Hebrew edition, Moreshet, Israel, 1975, p. 56.

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Self-portrait, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Self-portrait, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Charcoal on paper
31.8x23.3cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum, Jerusalem

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Self-portrait, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Philip Hirshberg, 1944

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Philip Hirshberg, 1944

Conscripted to forced labor in the Fahrbereitschaft unit in the ghetto. Sent to the minefields, where he was murdered.
Charcoal on paper
29x21 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum, Jerusalem

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Philip Hirshberg, 1944

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Max Hirshberg, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Max Hirshberg, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Conscripted to forced labor in the Fahrbereitschaft unit in the ghetto. Sent to the minefields, where he was murdered.
Charcoal on paper
30x21 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum, Jerusalem

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Max Hirshberg, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Schliffmann, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Schliffmann, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Conscripted to forced labor in the Fahrbereitschaft unit in the ghetto.
Sent to the minefields, where he was murdered.
Charcoal on paper
34.5x25 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Schliffmann, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Michael Rapoport, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Michael Rapoport, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Engineer. Conscripted to forced labor in the Fahrbereitschaft unit in the ghetto.
Born 1906 in Riga, Latvia. Married Ella Levinstein and had a son, Itchak, who was born in the ghetto, and was later murdered in the Kinderaktion. His wife was murdered in a killing pit, in Riga. Michael was murdered in the Ghetto.
Charcoal on paper
34.8x25 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Michael Rapoport, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Benjamin Blumberg, Riga Ghetto, 1942

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Benjamin Blumberg, Riga Ghetto, 1942

Businessman. Conscripted to forced labor in the Fahrbereitschaft unit in the ghetto.
Arrested in the ghetto for receiving a slice of bread through the ghetto fence. After a week in jail, he succeeded in escaping from the ghetto. After the war, lived in Belgium.
Charcoal on paper
34x25 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Benjamin Blumberg, Riga Ghetto, 1942

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Buveic, Riga Ghetto, 1944, Murdered in the Riga Ghetto.

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Buveic, Riga Ghetto, 1944, Murdered in the Riga Ghetto.

Charcoal on paper
29.5x21 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Buveic, Riga Ghetto, 1944, Murdered in the Riga Ghetto.

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Nehamkes, Riga Ghetto

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Nehamkes, Riga Ghetto

Conscripted to forced labor in the Fahrbereitschaft unit in the ghetto.
Sent to the minefields, where he was murdered.
Charcoal on paper
34.8x25 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Nehamkes, Riga Ghetto

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Zemach Weinrich, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Zemach Weinrich, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Butcher. Conscripted to forced labor in the Fahrbereitschaft unit in the ghetto.
Born in Tukums, Latvia. In the ghetto, his role was to load German trucks onto railroad cars bound for the front. Caught for sabotage and punished by hanging in the ghetto.
Charcoal on paper
35.2x25.3 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Zemach Weinrich, Riga Ghetto, 1944

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Meir Levinstein, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Meir Levinstein, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Conscripted to forced labor in the Fahrbereitschaft unit in the ghetto.
Born in Kuldiga, Latvia. Sent to the Kaiserwald Concentration Camp and from there, by ship to Germany, to the Stutthof Magdeburg Concentration Camp. Liberated April 21, 1945. Immigrated to Israel and settled in Jaffa.
Charcoal on paper
34.3x25 cm

Collection of the Yad Vashem Art Museum

Arthur (Alter) Ritov (1909-1988), Meir Levinstein, Riga Ghetto, 1943

Graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia, in Riga. After completing his studies, he taught art in various schools. Following the German occupation in July 1941, he was deported to the ghetto at the end of October and, several months later, was transferred to the "small ghetto". He was conscripted for forced labor in an HKP unit, at a German army workshop for refurbishing vehicles for the Eastern Front. His assignment was to paint license plates for the vehicles. In July 1944, three months before the Red Army entered Riga, he escaped from the ghetto with a relative, Jacob Ritov and five other prisoners. Three of his companions were shot and killed during the escape. That night, along with Jacob Ritov, he found refuge in the home of a Latvian named Mottmiller, who already hid other Jews. They remained in hiding until liberation, on October 13, 1944. Arthur Ritov immigrated to Israel in 1970, and settled in Tel-Aviv.

During the years 1942-1944, Ritov clandestinely portrayed inmates at the HKP repair facility in the Riga ghetto. He drew the portraits on plain paper, which he used for drawing the license plates. When he returned to his barracks from his forced labor assignment, he would secretly draw his friends' faces, in a realistic-expressive style. In these portraits, he succeeded to capture the unique character of each of the prisoners, imbuing them with a sense of life. Ritov signed and dated each drawing. He hid them under the closets in the dressing room of the barracks. After the war, Ritov returned to the barracks, where he found all of his drawings unharmed. Over time, he added the name of each subject, and his fate, on the back of each drawing.

Yad Vashem holds 47 of Ritov’s portraits in its collection.

In the exhibition “Last Portrait: Painting for Posterity”, Yad Vashem continues in its persistent endeavor to restore a face and a name to the victims of the Holocaust and tell their personal story. Despite our efforts, some portraits remain unidentified. If you have additional information about the portraits and/or artists that are part of this exhibition, please contact the Yad Vashem Art Museum staff.

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