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Vladek Spiegelman (on the left), as depicted on the cover of Maus

Vladek Spiegelman (October 11, 1906-August 18, 1982) is the subject of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel Maus, written and illustrated by his son, Art Spiegelman. A Polish Jew—n.b. that Vladek is a Czech spelling, the proper Polish spelling being Władek—he worked as a salesman before being drafted into the Polish Army at the outbreak of World War II. Both he and his wife were imprisoned by the Germans during the Holocaust. They were liberated from the Nazi concentration camps in 1945. cover of Maus graphic novel This image is a book cover. ... is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ... Trade paperback of Will Eisners A Contract with God (1978), often mistakenly cited as the first graphic novel. ... Maus: A Survivors Tale is a memoir presented as a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman. ... Art Spiegelman (born February 15, 1948) is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic memoir, Maus. ... Polish Army (Polish Wojsko Polskie) is the name applied to the military forces of Poland. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ... See also the related List of German concentration camps Concentration camp in Nazi Germany. ...

At the beginning of World War II, Vladek had a wife, Anja (Andzia) Spiegelman (née Zylberberg) and a son, Richieu. They sent Richieu to the Zawiercie ghetto to live with Anja's older sister Tosha (Polish: Tosia), her husband Wolfe and their daughter Bibi. Wolfe and Tosha also took in Lonia, another niece of Anja. When the ghetto was being evacuated, Tosha poisoned herself and the three children she harbored. Wolfe was later shot. After they got out of Auschwitz, Vladek and Anja searched orphanages everywhere to see if the rumors about Richieu being poisoned were true. The never found Richieu so they came to the conclusion that he was poisoned. Vladek and Anja fled their ghetto but were betrayed by some smugglers and delivered into the hands of the Gestapo. The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei: “secret state police”) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ...

Imprisoned by the Germans again — after yet another long series of events — he ultimately ended up in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. His wife Anja was held in Auschwitz II (Birkenau); Vladek was in the smaller, regular Auschwitz where he worked on and off (teaching English, working in the tin shop and repairing shoes). He was finally released from the concentration camp after around 10 months. He had spent about two months in quarantine, three in the tin shop, two in the shoe shop, did "black work" (hard labor, moving stones) for about two months and worked again as a tin-man for roughly two more months. Vladek was able to survive through his ability to do a variety of jobs and his knowledge of several languages (English, German, Polish, Yiddish). He was also able to bribe guards and other figures, and had his share of good luck. ALso, during his time there, he was able to keep in touch with Anja through the help of another inmate of Anja's, Mancie. She would leave letters from one to the other under rocks and such and kept them in contact. After he got out of Auschwitz, Vladek searched for Mancie to reward her but was unsuccesful. Auschwitz (Konzentrationslager Auschwitz) was the largest of the Nazi German concentration camps. ... Birkenau may mean the following. ...

As the Russians closed in, Auschwitz was evacuated and Vladek was moved to Gross-Rosen near Breslau in what was then Germany. He eventually ended up in Sweden, not being able to get a visa for travel to the United States yet. He told his son Art that he became quite successful there as a salesman: "Really I was sorry to go [leave Sweden]" when his American visa finally arrived. Art Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Gross-Rosen memorial (2005); above the entrance gate the phrase Arbeit macht frei KL Gross-Rosen (Groß-Rosen) was a German concentration camp, located in Gross-Rosen (Rogoźnica), Lower Silesia. ... Wrocław. ... Entry visa valid in Schengen treaty countries. ... Nickname: Location of Stockholm in northern Europe Coordinates: , Country Sweden Municipality Stockholm Municipality County Stockholm Province Södermanland and Uppland Charter 13th century Government  - Mayor Kristina Axén Olin (m) Population (March 2007)  - City 786,509  - Density 4,160/km² (10,774. ...

Anja and Vladek were reunited in Sosnowiec, Poland, where they used to live before the war. Anja had been actively searching for her husband via the local Jewish Community Center. Eventually the Spiegelmans were able to move to New York City (specifically, the Rego Park section of Queens, which has always been a strongly Jewish neighborhood and housed a sizable contingent of Holocaust survivors. Sielecki Castle Sosnowiec (pronounced: [sɔs:nɔvȋεʦ]) is a city located in the south of Poland, in a tributary of the Wisla (Vistula) river. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Rego Park is an neighborhood in central Queens, New York. ... Queens County, often referred to as simply Queens, is the largest in area of the five boroughs of New York City, USA. It is home to New York Citys two major airports (John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia), the New York Mets baseball team, the USTA National Tennis Center, Silvercup...

Having survived Auschwitz, Anja committed suicide in 1968. After her death, Vladek became immensely depressed and destroyed her diaries and other papers of hers — which annoyed Art as he tried to compile information on the Holocaust for his comic, Maus, calling Vladek a murderer. Spiegelman later married another Holocaust survivor named Mala. His son portrayed their relationship as difficult, characterised by arguments over money, with Mala eventually leaving him and then later returning. Mayor of Leipzig, Germany, committed suicide along with his wife and daughter on April 20, 1945. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Clinical depression (also called major depressive disorder, or unipolar depression when compared to bipolar disorder) is a state of intense sadness, melancholia or despair that has advanced to the point of being disruptive to an individuals social functioning and/or activities of daily living. ...

Spiegelman and his son Art had a troubled relationship. Art disliked his father's racism and stingy, miserly mood towards money and items (he kept things he need not need; reused objects; only replaced essentials; did handiwork himself), as well as his treatment of his wives and his frequent need of Art's help later in his life. Art was at one point worried in that his father would display the usual miserly Jew stereotype in his comic, Maus. The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ...

Vladek died aged 75; he had diabetes and had had bouts of typhus during the war. This article is about the disease that features high blood sugar. ... For the unrelated disease caused by Salmonella typhi, see Typhoid fever. ...

In Maus, he is represented as an anthropomorphic mouse, in keeping with the scheme of the novel, wherein Jews are depicted as mice, Germans as cats, Poles as pigs, Americans as dogs, French as frogs, British as fish, and Swedes as reindeer. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Feral mouse A mouse (plural mice) is a rodent that belongs to one of numerous species of small mammals. ...