Authors | Josef Kylies

Josef Kylies, Chess tournament, Small Fortress Terezín, 1945, pencil, paper, 10.5 x 16 cm, PT 2048

Josef Kylies, Figure of professor Štipl, Small Fortress Terezín, 1945, pencil, paper, 15.9 x 10.3 cm, PT 2002

Josef Kylies, Fortune-telling from cards, Small Fortress Terezín, 1945, pencil, paper, 15.4 x 11.7 cm, PT 2063

Josef Kylies, Group of four lying inmates, Small Fortress Terezín, 1945, pencil, paper, 10.2 x 16 cm, PT 2035

Josef Kylies, Group of ten resting inmates, Small Fortress Terezín, 1944, pencil, paper, 15.4 x 10.4 cm, PT 2027

Josef Kylies, Inmates playing chess, Small Fortress Terezín, 1944–1945, pencil, paper, 15.3 x 11.6 cm, PT 2051

Josef Kylies, Lecture in cell No. 12, Small Fortress Terezín, 1945, pencil, paper, 10.5 x 16 cm, PT 2067

Josef Kylies, Portrait of sculptor Karel Štipl, Small Fortress Terezín, 1945, pencil, paper, 16 x 10.3 cm, PT 2022

Josef Kylies

Josef Kylies, the eldest of five sons, was born on March 19, 1890, at Studeněves near Slaný. He excelled in sports, read avidly, and especially drew a lot during his high school studies. Since his family´s financial situation made it impossible for him to study at the Academy of Fine Arts or the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague, he enrolled in a one-year business course at an academy in the capital city. He did his best to develop his talents, visiting art exhibitions and painting most of the time. During World War I, Kylies drew and painted also at the battlefront. Although Josef Kylies was a gifted artist, at the age of 28, he chose to become director of the Economic Cooperative in Slaný. Josef Čížek (1883–1945) collaborated with Kylies to establish a cultural association called Trhlina (Crack), which brought together local artists and art lovers in Slaný. This community found its home in the Slaný Sokol organization, which helped in staging various exhibitions and other events. After the Sokol was banned by the Nazis in World War II, the Trhlina association had to seek refuge under the wings of another institution. This led to the founding of the Community of Art Lovers Navrátil as a section of the Museum and Literary Union Palacký.

Josef Kylies came into the Gestapo’s spotlight during the Nazi occupation due to his art which displayed a visible patriotic bias and willingness to help people in need. After being denounced to the Gestapo, he was taken into custody on September 20, 1944. He was then transferred from the Kladno Gestapo office to the prison in the Small Fortress Terezín on October 12. Even while in prison, Kylie did not lose heart; on the contrary, he tried his best to assist and uplift others. He continued to pursue his cultural and educational activities in the Fortress, giving lectures on different subjects virtually every evening. He was even able to convince many of his fellow inmates to participate in the lectures, and also drew a lot, portraying the hard everyday life in the Small Fortress. He specialized in making portraits, striving to capture the true likeness of the most vulnerable and suffering prisoners in particular. In mid-March 1945, Josef Kylies was transferred to the Fourth Courtyard of the Small Fortress where he contracted spotted fever, then spreading in the camp. However, his family obtained permission to transfer him to Slaný hospital, where he was admitted on May 4, 1945. Kylies successfully overcame the disease and returned to regular life after a period of recovery at Vráž in September 1945. Once again, he was engulfed by cultural activities, organizing art exhibitions, writing, and making illustrations. Unfortunately, the hardship of his imprisonment caught up with him, and he fell ill with tuberculosis. He was unable to fight the disease for long, and he passed away on June 16, 1946.