The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Anne was hidden for two years, but finally shipped to a concentration camp where she died at age 15 (August 1944) Paul Goldfinger photos from the documentary.
Anne Frank (L) and her sister Margot.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor Blogfinger.net
The enormity of the Holocaust cannot be reduced to one movie or one book or one photograph. The capacity of the Nazis to destroy millions of people outside of military actions cannot be comprehended, and humans will contemplate what happened for as long as mankind is capable of wondering.
Wiki: Researchers found that the Nazis established about 42,500 camps and ghettos between 1933 and 1945. This figure includes 30,000 slave labor camps; 1,150 Jewish ghettos, 980 concentration camps; 1,000 POW camps; 500 brothels filled with sex slaves; and thousands of other camps used for euthanizing the elderly and infirm; Germanizing
prisoners or transporting victims to killing centers. Berlin alone had nearly 3,000 camps.
But there is one statistic which belies all understanding: The Nazis murdered 1 1/2 million Jewish children just because of their religion.
Of course, the total deaths were massive, and all kinds of people were swept up in it.
Yet, humankind has found ways to forgive, a least to forgive those Germans who were not born yet.
My cousin Marty served in Europe, and when I bought a Mercedes in the 1980’s, he said, “Why are you driving a Nazi car?”
I answered, “Many of the taxis in Israel are Mercedes.”
But the Nazis cannot be forgiven nor can all those criminals ever be brought to justice.
However there is an incredible museum in Jerusalem called Yad Vashem where Holocaust remembrance is their main theme.
Yad Vashem. Putting a face to a statistic. Wiki.
And at Yad Vashem there is an Avenue of the Righteous where non-Jews who rescued Jews at great risk to themselves are honored.
The Avenue of the Righteous at Yad Vashem. Wiki.
When the Brits liberated Bergen-Belsen in Germany, they found 60,000 sick and dying survivors. Still image from the documentary by Paul Goldfinger.
There is no ending to the story much of which remains to be told.
But on 10/22/23, I can offer one grain of sand to illuminate in this Blogfinger post. But all the grains of sand will never be counted.
Michelle Garruti “Theme From Schindler’s List:”
Frank: That’s a stereotype. When 35 mm cameras were developed, most of those pioneering street photographers used Leicas, such as Cartier Bresson, Gary Winogrand, Lee Friedlander, Alfred Eisenstadt, and Robert Capa. And they weren’t doctors or lawyers.
I knew a few physicians who were interested in photography, but I was the only one to use a Leica and the only one to be published and exhibited.
For many years I only had one lens. I was also the only physician I knew who actually studied photography, and I did so seriously, at the Maine Photographic Workshops and Leica seminars in NY. And I have never played golf–not once: anther stereotype.
Interesting info . Think if I recall that Leica cameras used 35mm film so as to make use of excess 35mm motion picture film . Maybe they were first to do so . Yes indeed Leica is a great camera .
They used to have a gallery in NYC. Not sure if they still do . Ken Hansen(r.i.p.) was a big NYC Leica dealer . Not many regular working photographers could afford Leica gear as it was and still is very expensive . It was considered by many a camera that only doctors and lawyers could afford . Please no offense meant by that remark as you are a Doctor.
Frank: I have been a faithful devotee of Leica cameras and lenses since the 1970’s. Dover camera was a Leica dealer in downtown Dover. The Leitz company was known world-wide for their optical equipment, and German governments always favored them for their military and scientific needs.
When the Nazis took over Germany, Ernst Leitz and his daughter Elsie wanted to help their Jewish employees as well as other Jews whom they knew.
They established a way by setting up a secret plan to get Jews out of the country. They had offices all over the world, and they “smuggled” out their employees as well as other Jews who were said to be Leitz employees as being transferred elsewhere for the company.
The plan was later called the “Leica Freedom Train,” and they saved the lives of “hundreds” of Jews before the Nazis could arrest them. It is said that Leitz was so well connected because of his products and the economic value of that company, that some Nazis knew about the effort but they looked the other way.
This past year I bought 2 high tech Leica cameras, made in Germany, and have proudly showed photos on Blogfinger made with those cameras and lenses. Their cameras still say “Made in Germany.” They used to have a bright red icon on them to identify them as Leicas and add prestige for their owners. But thieves would snatch such marked Leica cameras from the necks of photographers.
My latest Leica is missing that red symbol so that street photographers don’t attract too much attention.
To this day I know folks who will not buy Volkswagens or any other German car or product . Growing up in the 1960’s there was a stigma to buying & having Japanese products . I used to remove the made in Japan stickers . Japanese products were thought to be cheap and poorly made. Nowadays the opposite . Ironic that most Nikon (a Japanese brand) cameras are made in Thailand and even Vietnam .
My father who was a U.S. government photographer used German made Leica cameras with name & Made in Germany removed . Ha.