Private photos and Holocaust testimony: A complex relationship

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores the legibility of photos taken by Jewish victims of Nazi persecution. Many museums have collected private photos from survivors, and use them to illustrate Holocaust testimony. But photos and testimonies are not always neatly aligned; private photos can also confound audience expectations. We focus on four case studies, comprising photos taken in Poland, Germany, and the UK, and interviewed survivors about their significance. Testimonies and personal photos, we conclude, reveal different but complementary aspects of Jewish experiences during the Holocaust, and, if read together, can enrich the way in which modern audiences engage with this difficult history.