Capitol hosts photo exhibit of Holocaust survivors

A photo exhibit showing portraits of Holocaust survivors is being displayed in the Russell Senate Office Building rotunda this week to mark a Week of Remembrance.

The exhibit from photographer Barbara Mack, titled “Portraits in Black and White: Survivors and What They Carry,” features 20 images of Los Angeles-based Holocaust survivors, each carrying personal items from their past.

{mosads}When Mack first took on the project, she worried all of the stories would be marked by tragedy and sadness but found that many survivors also had “examples of kindness and goodness,” she told The Hill.

“Each one of these pictures has an incredible story” Mack said. “The great part about the exhibit is that you don’t have to read a lot to understand what is going on.” 

One of the photos shows a woman, Claire, holding a violin.

Claire’s parents gave her to a Catholic family in Belgium just before they were taken away to Auschwitz. But Claire remained safe: When Nazi officials came looking for Jews in the neighborhood, no one — including the local Catholic priest — turned her in.

The violin she is holding in the photo is a gift from her father who survived the Holocaust.

Mack, a trained psychologist, understood that sharing those painful experiences with a stranger could be a daunting experience for the survivors.

“I felt an immediate closeness with every person,” she said. 

Mack said it was “wonderful that the United States Senate is willing to show these portraits” and said that all of the participants in the exhibits had an unwavering love of the U.S.

“They are shining examples of immigrants.” Mack said, of the many survivors who came to the U.S. after the war. “They came here with nothing, they learned English, raised a family. Many found the American dream, but if they didn’t, they can see it in their children and grandchildren.” 

The exhibit first ran at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and will be in the Russell rotunda from May 2 to 6. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, Mack said.

“You learn history from the people that experience it,” she said.

On May 6 at 12:15 p.m., there will also be a performance by the Argus Quartet, a Los Angeles-based group, of songs inspired by Holocaust survivors in the rotunda.

This story was updated at 12:51 p.m.