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The No Photos Issue

Csi Berlin: Tatjana Bergius Used To Draw Horrible Things For The Police

Two years ago I interviewed Tatjana Bergius for the Cops Issue of Vice in Germany. She used to work for the Berlin police drawing rapists, murderers and other nasty people.

Two years ago I interviewed Tatjana Bergius for the Cops Issue of

in Germany. She used to work for the Berlin police drawing rapists, murderers and other nasty people, as well as the scenes where these and other horrific crimes took place. Shortly after we met she quit her job because all the things she’d seen were making her not like doing it anymore. I called her up to find out what she was doing instead. The picture on this page and the following ones are her illustrations of crime scenes from her time working for the police.

Annons

Translation: “As a child he spent a lot of time applying bandages to his teddy bears. Everyone thought he would become a doctor some day. Nobody had any idea that these injuries were inflicted by him.” 

Vice: Hi Tatjana, this is Tom from Vice. We met about two years ago.

Tatjana:

Good, thanks. So how come you stopped working for the police?

What did that involve?

Sounds horrible.

What’s the worst thing you ever saw?

And you had to draw it?

But that made you want to quit?

How did you start these drawings?

Sounds terrifying.

A fairly mixed bag then.

Do you feel your work will help people realise this?

What first inspired you to start scribbling?

Can you remember the first thing you drew?

How did you end up drawing for the police?

So your pictures were a kind of therapy?

And you were in the middle of this world?

Translation: “Open Case: Each one is a unique challenge for him. Final leadership. Temptation Nr. 1 (the backwards bit).”

Translation: “Basement: He wished he could bring the children to the same place every time. He often returned here. A beacon of hope (the upside down text).”

These four illustrations were all drawn in a cloister in the countryside outside Berlin while Tatjana was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.