On the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, 75 Moving Portraits of Holocaust Survivors Are Going on View in Germany

When two Russian soldiers arrived to the Auschwitz concentration
camp on January 27, 1945, the guards were gone but 7,000 survivors
remained, including many children. Now, one of those children,
Marta Wise, is among 75 subjects in a poignant new photography
exhibition that captures the portraits of Holocaust survivors.

The show, “Survivors – Faces of Life after the Holocaust,” in
Essen, Germany, includes 75 recent photographs by the German-born
artist Martin Schoeller, who has previously photographed Bill
Clinton and Barack Obama, among other notable figures. Schoeller, a
former assistant to Annie Leibowitz, photographed survivors
between the ages of 80 and 99 who lived through concentration camps
during World War II. Schoeller’s hyperrealistic style treats each
subject in the same way, almost like a passport photograph—but with
a disarming honesty.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (who has also been photographed
by Schoeller) was on hand to inaugurate the exhibition last week
when it opened at the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in
Essen, a world heritage site and former factory. “Survivors” is one
of several shows and events planned this year as Europe and the
rest of the world commemorates the liberation of
the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland 75 years
ago today, on January 27, 1945.

Many of the subjects already know each other. They meet
regularly with various visitors and youth groups to share their
stories and keep the memory of the wartime atrocity alive.
Eighty-seven-year-old Naftali Fürst, who survived three Nazi
concentration camps and a death march as a child, flew to Germany
from Israel for the opening.

“It is so important to undertake commemorative projects like
this one,” Fürst said in a statement. “Whoever is still capable of
telling their story should continue to do so. It is our obligation,
in the name of the men, women, and children who were murdered, to
keep telling our stories.”

Some 120 Holocaust survivors from around the world are attending
a ceremony today at the memorial site of the former Nazi
extermination camp in Poland for the 75th anniversary of the Red
Army’s arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau’s gates. It is likely to be
the last gathering of its kind due to the age of most of the
survivors.

All the subjects of Schoeller’s images were photographed at Yad
Vashem, the center for Holocaust Remembrance in Israel. The
industrial location in Essen was chosen for how it added impact to
the already powerful images of Schoeller’s subjects. “I grew
up with this incredible sense of guilt and shock, which lead me to
question my own identity. How could people from my country commit
these horrendous crimes?” said Schoeller in a statement. “It’s
terrifying to see how anti-Semitism is currently breaking new
ground in Europe and elsewhere. And I think we can only move
forward as human beings if we are willing to learn from
history.”

The exhibition is set to travel after it closes in Essen
on April 26, with dates being planned for Toronto and
Maastricht.

The post On the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of
Auschwitz, 75 Moving Portraits of Holocaust Survivors Are Going on
View in Germany appeared first on artnet News.