'My gran was the first artist into Bergen-Belsen - she painted the bodies so we will never forget'

The events that occurred 80 years ago saw millions of people push themselves out of their comfort zones in a bid to support the war effort. Doris Zinkeisen, a mother of three, was one of them. Doris, who had previously worked as a volunteer nurse, travelled overseas to document the war’s terrible impact in a series of paintings.

It resulted in one of the most powerful artworks of that era - The burning of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. "My grandmother’s paintbrushes became vital tools in relaying to people back home the realities of what was happening," Charlotte Johnstone exclusively tells the .

Believed to be the first artist to enter Bergen-Belsen after it was liberated on April 15th 1945, Doris’s oil on canvas painting illustrated the mass burning of bodies with a plume of smoke. Charlotte, 54, shares: "I know that she was lost for words to describe what she saw when she returned home.

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"How can you possibly sum up in words or imagery something like that, how can you speak of the devastation of what happenedIt encapsulates fear. And the terrible, troubling nature of what was happening."

Burning of Bergen Belsen is part of a selection of paintings from Doris, showing at the exhibition running from Thursday, May 8 until May 11 at London’s Oxo Tower. The ‘Brushstrokes from the Front Lines’ exhibition displays several original paintings by Doris Zinkeisen, now unveiled to the public for the first time in decades.

She offered her services to the British Red Cross – to go overseas to depict their work - in Brussels, where the British Red Cross relief team distributed clothing and food to recently liberated

Her work also led her to paint the horrors of the infamous where she witnessed the 13,000 unburied bodies and around 60,000 inmates, most acutely sick and starving. In ‘Human Laundry’ -arguably the most powerful depiction of life inside the camp - Doris highlighted the contrast between the well-fed, rounded bodies of the German medical staff and the emaciated bodies of

"Six days after the camp was liberated, teams from the Red Cross went to the camp to provide relief to the survivors," explains exhibition curator Mehzebin Adam-Suter. "German nurses, as depicted by Doris, also provided care to the survivors, which is important to highlight.

"Through all of the paintings, you can see how much Doris did to convey all the post-war relief that was taking place - including complex medical evacuations and repatriation of prisoners. Doris worked for free and women war artists rarely received government support or commissions for their work – partly due to concerns that depicting civilian suffering on the home front might harm public morale.

"Doris left a lasting mark on the worlds of art and history in her groundbreaking portrayals of our relief efforts during the

"At the same time, her service with the British Red Cross and reflects a sense of duty that extended beyond the canvas.”

Though the war left a lasting impression, it did not define Doris’s later work. Instead, she turned toward lighter, more romantic themes, often depicting Edwardian high society, dancers, and equestrian scenes, which referenced the sporting achievements of her youth.

She died aged 92 in 1991. Charlotte says: "My gran never spoke about what she witnessed and was exposed to - to her grandchildren, but my dad told us stories. There is our family story that gran was driven into Belsen in Himmler’s requisitioned car. That’s what my father told me."

Born in 1897, Doris and her parents, who had emigrated from Altenburg in Thuringia, moved to Pinner near Harrow in 1909. Doris won a scholarship to the Royal Academy School to study art with her younger sister Anna, who also became a successful artist.

After serving as a volunteer nurse in the UK during World War 1, she married naval officer Edward Graham Johnstone, Charlotte’s grandfather. The couple had three children - son Murray born in 1913 and twin daughters Janet and Anne born in 1928. The twins - also became acclaimed artists - illustrated the 1956 children’s classic The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Tragically, Edward passed away a year after . Later, Doris moved to the Suffolk coast. Janet and Anne continued to live with their mother and never married.

Charlotte recalls: "My siblings and I spent every summer at my grandmother’s house in the . If we behaved well, we were allowed to go into her studio, and it was always pristine. She was painting right up to just before she died. And I always remember mixing lethal cocktails as soon as the clock struck 6! Gran was of her era, hair immaculately turned out, bright red lips, and painted nails - but always in a painting smock."

Charlotte and her siblings spent every summer at their grandmother’s house: "Gran had a studio on the ground floor, and my twin aunts had a studio just above her," recalls Charlotte.

"Theirs was complete chaos but gran’s studio was immaculate. If we had behaved well we got a treat being invited into her studio."

Her grandmother - as well as aunts - inspired Charlotte to take up painting too. But Doris was inspirational in so many ways, as Charlotte says: "If you think of your average woman, at that period they had only really recently been given the vote.

"And most women were expected to be in the home, supporting the husband, bringing up children. They weren’t really encouraged to go to work unless you were working class, in which case, many went to work in the factories. I don’t think that their real worth was realised at all.

"I think for my grandmother to have gone out and done something, is quite radical and impressive. It was a time when a lot of people I think were able to break out of their moulds - to do what they could in support."

During World War II, Doris also worked as a theatre designer at the Old Vic, rubbing shoulders with thespian greats Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir Lawrence Olivier.

"She famously designed the nose for Olivier’s Richard III," says Charlotte. "My dad would tell me how she was great friends with Laurence Olivier.

"My father always used to tell the story that he would go and visit her at the Old Vic, He remembers: Laurence Olivier telling her oh, darling, how lovely to see you and my father being incredibly jealous, thinking, who is this man who’s talking to my mother in this way?"

"In everything she did, she was a trailblazer," shares Charlotte. "I’m proud of the courage and drive she had in a male-dominated . I know her time as a war artist affected her deeply, but that she was very proud that she could be of service at such a significant time in our history."

Brushstrokes from the Front Lines is part of The British Red Cross celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. It runs from Thursday May 8 2025 to Sunday May 11 2025.