Alfred Pal

Alfred Pal (30 November 1920 – 30 June 2010) was a Croatian painter and graphic designer.

Early life and education Pal was born in Vienna on November 30, 1920, into a Jewish family of Stefan and Therese (née Deutsch) Pal. Before the First World War Stefan Pal had owned a small chemical factory in Vienna which prospered as a supplier of shoe polish for the Austro-Hungarian Army, while Therese Deutsch was known for her beauty and appeared in several silent films produced in Berlin. Following the war and the collapse of Austria-Hungary, Pal senior moved his family to Poland, where he opened a new factory of chemical products called "Purus" near Kraków in 1921. Alfred had an older brother, Aleksandar, who was two years older than him.

World War II, later life and career In 1941, with the invasion of Yugoslavia, Pal, his brother and their aunt Judita hid from the German army at their aunt Gisela's estate in Čakovci. The winter of 1941–42 was the last winter they would spend together. From all surrounding areas, Vukovar, Vinkovci and Ilok, Jews from 14 to 60 years of age, were rounded up and taken to concentration camps. In 1942, Pal's aunt Gisela had a stroke, and aunt Juditasuffered a severe hip fracture, which left them both immovable. Pal's mother was arrested in Nova Gradiška by the Croatian police, and was then taken by Ustaše to a concentration camp in Đakovo where she survived typhus. Later she was taken to Loborgrad camp in Hrvatsko Zagorje, where she was killed in August 1942.

In the summer of 1942, Pal and his brother decided to escape the Nazi and Ustaše persecution. His brother attempted to swim across the Danube near Opatovac to Hungary, never to be seen again. Alfred forged a travel pass for himself and managed to reach Crikvenica, which was at the time occupied by the Italians. In order to earn a living, Pal drew caricatures of local villagers, visitors and Italian soldiers. On November 10, 1942, Pal was arrested and taken to a detention camp in Kraljevica and was later transferred to Rab concentration camp. After the 1943 capitulation of Italy and the liberation of the camp, he joined the Yugoslav Partisans as a member of the Jewish Rab battalion. In the Partisans he became a member of the wartime editorial board of ZAVNOH newspaper Vjesnik. Pal's aunts Judita and Gisela, and his brother Aleksandar, were all murdered in concentration camps. In 1945 Pal moved to Zagreb, where he became the technical editor at the Ilustrirani Vjesnik weekly, and was one of the founders of the satirical newspaper Kerempuh, in 1945. He served as editor of Kerempuh from 1947 to 1949.

In 1949, Pal was one of the victims of the Informbiro period, an internal schism between Yugoslavia and Soviet Union which led to the Tito–Stalin split. Charged with being a sympathizer of Stalin and an enemy of the state, Pal was arrested and sent to Goli Otok, a prison and labour camp for political prisoners, where he served time from 1949 to 1950, and again from 1951 to 1954.

Upon his release he returned to Zagreb, where he started working at various publishers, translating books from German and editing graphic design. Nevertheless, Pal continued to suffer discrimination, as he was denied travel documents and was kept under surveillance by the Yugoslav secret police UDBA. From 1970 to 1984, Pal worked as an art editor at the Matica hrvatska publishing house, and from 1985 he worked as an independent artist. Pal was also a long-time member of the Croatian Association of Artists of Applied Arts (ULUPUH) and one of the initiators and founders of Zgraf, a prestigious exhibition of graphic design established in 1975 and held every three years in Zagreb. Pal used encaustic technique in his painting. That same year, he also received the city of Zagreb award for lifetime achievement.

Personal life Pal was married to medical technician Branislava (née Žuvela) Pal, whom he met in 1960. They married in 1962. Pal had two children, first born daughter Aleksandra (Saša) was named after Pal's late brother, and son Petar Samuel was named after his grandfathers.