Dr. Theodor Zondek

Theodor ZONDEK (1912 - 2000)

Zondek was a German Jewish photographer, primarily active between 1934 and 1938,

in Berlin where he lived on Tausenzienstrasse. Zondek by all indications was self-taught and worked as a portrait photographer. He also spent considerable time on the streets of Berlin capturing aspects of urban life. Captivated by the Berlin Zoo, he photographed its array of caged animals, and at the same time he was interested in capturing labourers at work on the street, couples walking, and children. Overall his work is imbued by an atmosphere of melancholy. The idea of photographs conveying larger universal messages in book form was popular in Germany during the late 1920s, and it would appear that Zondek was influenced by such aesthetic constructions (exemplified by Renger-Patzsch's "The World is Beautiful"). Zondek created several maquettes book designs, incorporating into them photographs, poetic and philosophical musings,that lauded values of cherishing travel, and in a broader sense, the journey of life. In general the texts in his book maquettes reflect an attitude of optimism in spite of the social complexities during the Nazi regime.

Considerable information is missing about Zondek, but it is evident from his copyright notations (Foto Theo Zondek/Berlin W 50 Tausenzienstrasse 11; 'Sole Copywrite (sic) by Dr. T. Zondek, 56 Wynnstay Gardens, London, W.W. Western 6755) that he left Berlin around 1938, to live in London, England, where he was joined by his sister Hedwig Lilly Zondek. His father, Max Marcus Zondek did in 1933, and his mother Henrietta Charlotte Zondek, was deported to concentration camp in Theresienstadt, and perished in 1943. When in London, it would suggest that Zondek attempted to draw attention to his photographs; his copyright stamp notes his address, and designates his title as doctor (Dr. T. Zondek). However, the photographs are of his previous Berlin images, and it may have been his desire to enter some of them into exhibitions (making sure that copyright protected his intellectual property). Some of his photographic book designs were also constructed in London, and revisited many years later as "memories". The missing piece about Zondek is his early practice in photography; what lead him to it, what was his Berlin experience in the 1930s, and when did he set photography aside to pursue the study of medicine? The dating of the prints lead to his photographic activity being from 1934 to 1937. During the 1950s and 1960s he co-published with his sister (under the names Drs. Lilly H. and Theodor Zondek), medical papers and reports on thrombosis, congenital malformations, obstetrics, and other medical subjects. One can assume that many of the missing pieces on Zondek's early life in Berlin is due to the Nazi regime expunging records of Jews who were professionals in the arts, sciences and humanities.