10 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk‘W
ewillsoonfind
ourselveslivingin
aworldwithout
Holocaust
survivors.Thisinevitablerealityconfronts
uswithchallengingquestions.Whatwill
thefaceofHolocaustcommemoration
looklikewhenthesurvivorsareno
longerwithus?Howwillwebeableto
conveytheimpactandrelevanceof
Holocaustmemorytofuturegenerations
withouttheeyewitnessesthemselves?’
Thesequestions–andmore–are
askedbyAvnerShalev,chairmanoftheYadVashemDirectorate,inMartin
Schoeller’spoignantandimportantnew
book,Survivors.Theworkitselfprovides
atleastpartoftheanswer.
Between 1933 and 1941 Nazi
Germanypursuedapolicythatremoved
therightsandpropertyoftheJews,
followedbythebrandingand
concentrationoftheJewishpopulation.
In1941,theNazislaunchedthe
systematicmassmurderoftheJews,
meaningthatby1945,nearlysixmillion
hadbeenkilled.Thisyearmarksthe
75thanniversaryoftheliberationoftheSteidl,hardback, 168
pages,ISBN:978-3-
95829-621-3,€
★★★★★Survivors
Martin Schoeller
ThehorrorsoftheHolocaustmustneverbeforgotten.
ImportantworksuchasSurvivorshelpstoensure
theywon’tbe,asAmyDaviesdiscovers
BOOK
ALL
IMAGES © MARTIN SCHOELLER
concentration camps, and with every
year that passes, more of those who
witnessed and experienced their
horrors become relegated to the
history books.
This project matched 75 survivors
from Israel with the photographer, in
cooperation with Yad Vashem: The
World Holocaust Remembrance Center
to commemorate the anniversary.
The result is a set of compelling
close-up portraits, showing the
weathered faces of Jewish men and
women. Along with every image is a
short quote from the person pictured,
along with some biographical
information. Each is a stark reminder
that behind every statistic, every victim,
is a real person, with a real story to tell.
Scholler’s style is perhaps a little
unforgiving, but getting as close as this,
it’s easier to see and feel the emotions
and experiences that the sitters have
been through.
The title of the book, Survivors, is a
hopeful one. There is much sadness to
feel when working your way through
this book, but there is also resilience,
optimism, and endurance too – and
that’s something worth celebrating.Marta Wise, a survivor of the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau camp Moshe Ha-Elion, a survivor of multiple concentration camps