Joseph Bau (; 18 June 1920 – 24 May 2002) was a Polish-born Israeli artist, animator, and writer. A survivor of The Holocaust, Bau was sent to Brünnlitz labor camp operated by Oskar Schindler. The wedding between him and his wife Rebecca Tennenbaum, secretly conducted in the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, is portrayed in Steven Spielberg's movie Schindler's List. He later became known as the "Israeli Walt Disney".
Early life and career
Bau was born 18 June 1920 to a middle-class Jewish family in Kraków. Coming from a non-religious family, he attended a non-Jewish primary school then due to Poland's race laws had to attend a Jewish high-school.
During his imprisonment, Bau fell in love with another prisoner, Rebecca Tennenbaum. They were secretly married, despite the prohibition by the Germans, in the women's barracks of Płaszów. Their wedding was dramatized in Steven Spielberg's Academy Award-winning movie Schindler's List, where he was played by Rami Heuberger. Bau as himself appears in the film's epilogue placing a stone on Oskar Schindler's grave in Jerusalem, along with his wife Rebecca.
Bau was transferred to Gross-Rosen concentration camp after Płaszów and then to Schindler's camp where he stayed until the end of the war, while Rebecca was sent to Auschwitz. It was not until the release of Schindler's List in 1993 Bau learned Rebecca, who was a manicurist for Amon Goeth and also knew of Schindler, got his name on the list, choosing him instead of herself "because my husband was more important to me than I was, and I wasn't afraid".
After liberation, Bau was reunited with his wife and finished his degree at University of Plastic Arts in Kraków. In 1950, he immigrated to Israel together with his wife and three-year-old daughter, Hadassah, where their other daughter, Clila, was born. In Israel, Bau worked as a graphic artist at the Brandwein Institute in Haifa and for the government of Israel. He went on to create his own animated films and was referred to in the press as the "Israeli Walt Disney"
His wife Rebecca died in 1997. The following year, Bau's memoir Dear God, Have You Ever Gone Hungry? was published. Originally written in Hebrew the book was translated in Polish, English and several other languages. He was nominated for the Israel Prize the same year.
Bau died in Tel Aviv on 24 May 2002, at age 81.
- Knesset parliament building (2004)
- People from Schindler’s List (2012) - Oskar Schindler's Factory Museum
- Joseph Bau: Artist, Counterfeiter and Mossad Agent, (2024) - Adolph and Rose Levis JCC - Sandler Center, Boca Raton, Florida
Legacy
Bau's paintings and drawings have been listed by Sotheby's as significant contributions to the art of the Holocaust and his works have been shown in galleries in the US. In 2024, the museum was designated as one of the "Best of the Best" for Specialty Museums in Israel by TripAdvisor.
In 2024 the film Bau, Artist at War about the lives of Rebecca and Joseph was released, directed by Sean McNamara and starring Emile Hirsch. The theatrical release is scheduled for September 2025.