Holocaust exhibit opens

By Marc Shoffman - Wednesday 16th January 2008


London Mayor Ken Livingstone has described an exhibition on the lives of Polish Jews before the Holocaust as “haunting” ahead of its opening at City Hall.

Featuring photographs of children playing, families eating dinner and Jews praying, “And I Still See Their Faces – Images of Polish Jews" arrived at the prestigious London venue after being seen by audiences in Los Angeles, Mexico, Hamburg, New York and Jerusalem.

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The images were brought together following an appeal from Golda Tencer, Director of the Shalom Foundation, for photographs of people with Polish Jewish heritage. 9,000 were received in total.

Livingstone said: “The photographs provide haunting images, which evoke great sadness, reminding us how so many innocent people were horrifically murdered during the Holocaust. Yet the journey of the few that survived the Holocaust also gives a message of hope.”

Pawel Potoroczyn, Director of the Polish Cultural Institute, which helped to organise the exhibition, said: “Ten years after its creation, this collection of photographs still surprises with its look at a pre-war Jewish life in Poland that very few people knew existed: a life of blissful normality, almost unimaginable knowing the horrors that were to follow. It is a celebration of life and of Polish-Jewish relations.”

Among the other organisations who helped to put on the exhibit, and another Jewish Museum exhibition exploring the lives of a group of young Holocaust survivors who came to Britain in 1945, are the Spiro Ark, The Jewish Museum, '45 Aid Society, Second Generation. They have been backed by the Mayor’s office.

In a join statement ahead of Monday’s launch, Spiro Ark’s Nitza Spiro and Ben Helfgott of '45 Aid Society, said: “We are particularly grateful to the Shalom Foundation and the Polish Cultural Institute. We see their hard work and dedication as yet another genuine effort in building bridges of understanding and co operation between the public and Poland.”

Meanwhile, as the build-up continues to the annual Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has set up a virtual candle on its website, enabling visitors to light the flame in honour of the victims of the Shoah. Elsewhere, Brent Cross shopping centre will host a sculpture of over six million buttons, titled ‘6 Million +,’ for two weeks from this Monday. Designed to commemorate the six million victims of the Holocaust as well as victims of other genocides, was commissioned by Kirklees Museums and Galleries and created in partnership with Leeds-based artist Antonia Stowe.

Barnet Mayor Councillor Maureen Braun said: "The '6 Million +' exhibition is an extremely moving and visual way of appreciating the full horror of what happened during the Holocaust and I encourage as many residents as possible to visit Brent Cross, see the installation and talk to survivors.

"It is now nearly 63 years since the end of World War II but events elsewhere in the world today in 2008 show that sadly we have not learnt the lessons of the past. I invite residents to reflect with me on the horrors of the last century and look forward with hope for the future."







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