The Power of Photography In Remembering the Holocaust

Over the past year I've been involved in a community project: A book of remberances by both Holocaust survivors and the next generation: their children and grandchildren. My role in the "Sefer Zicharon" (Book of Remembrance) was to scan and restore the 100 or so photos that were submitted for the book. The photos were accompanied by stories that were recalled by the families of those whose lives were directly impacted by the genocide committed by the Nazis in World War II. Yesterday, the book arrived from the publishers. 

The quality of the images ranged from clear and easy to prepare, to photos that were scratched, folded, faded, or had patterns that had to be removed in order to be reproduced properly for offset printing. The printer did a great job. 

But the process was also very personal. You see, the book was a collection of photographs and first-person accounts of how the Holocaust effected members of our community and still reverberates, some 80 years later. 

And I know everyone who contributed to the book. The stories are told by my friends and neighbors.

• Keren writes about her grandfather, who is his family's sole suvivor from the Holocaust.

• My learning partner, Justin, describes how his uncle (photo below) went to fight the Germans and never came back.

• Maayan, whose bat mitzvah party I photographed last summer in her parents' house, writes movingly about her great-grandparents' daring escape from a concentration camp.

• Lisa, who I've known for over 30 years, describes how her grandmother left Germany in 1936, barely escaping.

• Miriam, whose father's Yeshiva relocated to the Alps to ride out the Shoah in relative safety but left in 1938 when they were no longer safe in Europe.

This was personal. The people in the photos looked a lot like my friends. In fact, over the years, I met many of the survivors and was friends with them.  

And that was the point of the book: Make it very local and personal. Remind the community that the events of 80 years ago continue to echo loudly in our collective consciousness. 

With the current alarming rise of antisemitism, it is important to understand what life was like before the Holocaust, and how Jew hatred was normalized, setting the stage for unimaginable tourture and death.