Despite the rather grisly subject matter, Brack has achieved a small, perfectly contained and beautifully painted jewel-like interior.

The detail of the brushwork, with its meticulous lines and opaque passages of thin paint in the background, the fine scratches incised into the block to indicate its use, and the artist’s handmade wooden frame, all converge in an exquisite synthesisBrack's works, including The Block, were often considered to be satire of 1950s and 60s Australia.

The Holocaust then was something people couldn't bear to acknowledge - it was like planes hitting towers today.The painting was first exhibited in February 1954 at the Peter Bray Gallery in Melbourne.

It was purchased by Colonel Aubrey Gibson, later a trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

It was later included in two John Brack retrospective exhibitions—at the NGV in 1987 and at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra in 1999.