In art school, he preferred to create
wood engravings, but after finishing, Kiwitz began working more with woodcuts, which entailed a process more suited to his temperament. He and Strupp went to
Cologne for a few months and later, he went to
Berlin to pursue work and further study. In April 1932, his woodcut illustrations for a satirical poem by
Erich Weinert were published along with the poem in
Magazin für Alle. He also made a woodcut decrying the
Nazi book burnings and one that features
caricatures of
Hitler,
Goebbels and
Göring (see illustration). In early 1933, after the Nazis
seized power, Kiwitz' studio was ransacked by the
Sturmabteilung (SA) and he left Berlin, returning to his parents' home. As a
socialist, Kiwitz saw little future and only danger for himself in Germany. In 1937, with help from Rowohlt, he managed to flee to
Copenhagen, Denmark, where he met
Bertolt Brecht. where he again began to fight fascism. An organization of exiled German artists, the
Union des Artistes Allemands Libres, was founded in autumn 1937 and Kiwitz became an early member. The group organized an exhibit called "Five Years of Hitler Dictatorship", (
Fünf Jahre Hitler-Diktatur) held at a local union hall. and contributed to the exhibition brochure,
Cinq Ans de Dictateure Hitlerienne, cutting out a piece of
linoleum flooring from under his bed and making
linocuts depicting torture, courtroom trials and
forced labor in the
Third Reich. Also while in Paris, he made a woodcut about the
Bombing of Guernica and other alleged war crimes.
Open letter to Hitler The text of Kiwitz' 1937 open letter of renunciation to Hitler printed below was printed in a German-language exile newspaper in Paris. == Recognition ==