"Szyk’s once-celebrated illustrations—art both deeply Jewish and strikingly universal—powerfully exposed the devastating harms of fascism, racism, and antisemitism. This compelling, fascinating, and timely memoir now amplifies that call, championing artistic freedom while celebrating art’s indispensable inspiration to resist tyranny and sustain democracy and liberty across the globe." - David Saperstein, Former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom

During World War II, the Polish-Jewish immigrant Arthur Szyk became America’s leading anti-Nazi artist. His art was so effective that Adolf Hitler reportedly put a bounty on his head while the US military declared him a “citizen-soldier” of the free world. Szyk steadfastly fought for the rescue of European Jewry during the Holocaust, creating artworks like De Profundis, which imagines Jesus sharing the suffering of countless lifeless Jews. His civil rights art challenged segregation, and his illuminated Declaration of Independence resides in the Library of Congress. Szyk’s masterwork, an illustrated Passover Haggadah, is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful books ever produced by human hands.

Once world-famous, Arthur Szyk was all but forgotten after he died in 1951. Reviving the Artist Who Fought Hitler recounts Irvin Ungar's decades-long journey to restore Szyk to public consciousness and become the principal collector, dealer, scholar, and promoter of Szyk’s art in the United States, Europe, and Israel. Richly illustrated and full of forgotten history, this memoir is an inspiring story of artistic passion and an invitation to commune with a heroic advocate for all humanity. 

Ungar will be in conversation about the book with 60 Minutes Producer Henry Schuster.