Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors
Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors 2021
Over 50 contemporary portraits of Holocaust survivors and their families shine a light on the full lives they have lived and our collective responsibility to cherish their stories.
In partnership with the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), Jewish News, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Dangoor Education, Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors showcases new works from 12 contemporary photographers, all members and Fellows of RPS, alongside photography by RPS patron, Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge.
Displayed for the very first time, these powerful photographs capture the special connections between Holocaust survivors and the younger generations of their families.
The systematic persecution of Europe’s Jews by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945 led to the mass extermination of 6 million lives. For those who survived, its memory and impact were life changing.
Through a series of individual and family portraits, the moving photographs in this exhibition present a group of survivors who made the UK their home after beginnings marked by unimaginable loss and trauma. While offering a space to remember and share their stories, these portraits are a celebration of the rich lives they have lived and the special legacy which their children and grandchildren will carry into the future.
Photographers include Frederic Aranda, Sian Bonnell, Jillian Edelstein, Arthur Edwards, Anna Fox, Joy Gregory, Jane Hilton, Tom Hunter, Karen Knorr, Carolyn Mendelsohn, Simon Roberts and Michelle Sank.
Mindu Hornick, 94 is an Auschwitz Survivor. Pictured here in her garden with her daughter Nicola. When asked about faith after her experience she said “we just wanted to live”.
Ruth Grant, 93 is a Kindertransportee from Cologne. Pictured here in her garden with her recent autobiography and the soft animals she still makes to give to others.
Renate Collins, 88 was a 5 year old Kindertransportee on the last train from Prague. Pictured here holding a photograph of her younger self taken in her original homeland.
Kurt Simon, 88 was forced to leave Austria as a child with his parents joining his brother who was a Kindertransportee. Pictured here with his daughter Jane and grandson Yoni.
Trude Silman, 92 is a Survivor from Czechoslovakia. She lost her father to the Nazis. Her mother’s fate is still unknown. Pictured here in her bedroom with her daughter Judith.