Boris Kobe

Boris Kobe's Tarock Card Game or Tarot Cards(?) from Allach Concentration
Camp (probably 1945). Originals in Slovenian archives.

Boris Kobe (1905-81) was a Slovenian architect and painter who became a political prisoner in the concentration camp of Allach, a sub-camp of Dachau, near Munich, Germany.

These images are from reproductions of the original cards provided courtesy of the Slovenian delegation (Slovenian Ministry of Education) to the Stockholm International Conference in the year 2000. Reproduction sets of cards were given to educators who attended the Swedish government sponsored conference in order to help identify an aspect of the victimization of one Slovenian political prisoner who became a prominent architect after the war.

The contextual framework and point of departure of the art project is a deck of tarok/tarot cards made in the Allach by Kobe most probably after the April 1945 liberation by American forces (see card XXI which depicts liberation and the Slovenian flag, Allach being burned). As a whole, this work of art represents a visual summary of life in a concentration camp, the main vehicle of which consists of Kobe's tragic and humiliating sequences spiced with acrid humor. At the same time, this tiny exhibit is a miniature chronicle of the twilight of humanity brought about by Nazism, which regarded a human being, and therefore the artist himself, as a mere number.

The installation has the character of an integral work of art or an ambience that, apart from the visual and spatial elements, is enriched by music. The artistic metamorphosis of the traditional danse macabre theme is the focus of the projection, which emphasizes the phenomenon of violence as the greatest evil of 20th century European history.

Allach, a sub-camp of Dachau, was ten miles from the main camp and was liberated on April 22, 1945 by American forces, 42nd Rainbow Division

After the war, Kobe did no more work as far as is known about his camp experiences. He was, however, a major Slovenian architect. One of his major projects was the restoration of the Ljubljana Castle. Plecnik was the major architect but Boris Kobe was also involved in creating elaborate plans for the castle. His contribution to its renovation is not insignificant, though it is not as well known as Plecnik's.

The cards shown below were drawn with double images: for every one that is "right side up," there is an inverted section. Both views are shown below, hence there are two Roman numbered cards for each with scenes from Allach Labor camp.

As far as the question of tarok versus tarot cards, these may be more like the former but many questions remain. Wikipedia notes about Tarok cards:

"Tarocchi (Italian, plural form of Tarocco), also known as Tarock (German-Austrian name), Tarot (French name) and similar names in other languages, is a specific form of playing card deck, which in its history was used for different trick-taking games and later for cartomantic interests and divination (concrete forms appear at least since the article of Court de Gebelin in the year 1781), also as a field for artists to display specific iconographical forms often connected to an ideological system in the background (already a strong factor in the first decks known in 15th century). It is recorded as one of the oldest types of playing card decks known.

The playing material (a deck with usually 4 x14 normal Italian suits and court cards, which include in contrast to other forms a cavallo or knight, with additional 21 trumps; the suits may differ from other national patterns) is older than the name of the game, which, according to the current state of research, became known in the year 1505 parallel in France (Taraux) and Ferrara (Italy, as Tarocchi) (Tarot press note) (Details). An earlier form of the game had the name Trionfi or triumphs, this name developed later as general term for trick-taking (trumpfen in German, to trump in English) and disappeared in its original function as deck name. This earlier name of the game is first documented in February 1442, Ferrara {document).

Although the objects are relatively clear of Italian origin (28 notes of the term Trionfi from 1442-1463 are counted), it seems, that the final name Tarocchi developed from French influence (Italian speakers of today claim that French words with an ending "-ot" had been commonly transformed in endings with "-occo" and "-occhi".) The poet Berni in 1526 still has some mockery for this (still new) word: "Let him look to it, who is pleased with the game of Tarocco, that the only signification of this word Tarocco, is stupid, foolish, simple, fit only to be used by bakers, cobblers, and the vulgar".

Various contradicting suggestions have been made in the past to explain the original meaning of the word "Tarot". They range from "old Egyptian origin" to the more prosaic "a cardmaker from the French village Taraux produced Tarot cards"."

for full article see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarock

There is no occult meaning in these cards. They should be read as a dramatic visual memoir of the horrible life of the Nazi concentration camps, as well as images of some people who had positions of power as KAPOs in the camp (prisoners who supervised other prisoners).

More information on the Artist Boris Kobe is sought and welcomed.