The vibrant smiling faces on the art gallery walls tell the stories of resilience and hope for more than 40 people who lived through the Holocaust. They were the survivors, while many of their family members died. They came to the United States looking for new lives and settled in Minnesota.
“The exhibit is both local and global. Local because these are Minnesota Holocaust survivors and global because each person comes from different parts of Europe,” says Dr. Sonja Wentling, associate professor of history.
Vibrant colors punctuate many of the photos in harsh contrast to the tattoos, identification numbers, visible on the forearms of several of the survivors. The portraits and accompanying stories are about surviving and thriving after hardships most couldn’t fathom.
“This exhibit gives the understanding that every story is unique and deserves to be recorded,” says Wentling. “They are the voices of the Shoah (Holocaust).”
“Transfer of Memory” was commissioned by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. Photographer David Sherman and writer Lili Chester created the pieces for the JCRC.
Steve Hunegs, the JCRC executive director, spoke at the Concordia exhibit's opening. He shared how he once visited a high school with 91-year-old Fred Baron. Baron and his wife, Judy, both survived the Auschwitz concentration camp and met when they were recovering in a Swedish hospital. They moved to the United States and eventually Minnesota.
“(At the high school) Fred stood for two hours talking about his experience in the Holocaust,” Hunegs said. “What I learned from Fred is in life you can overcome all that you face. What he preached was hope and love and life. And he’d overcome the worst.”
President William Craft offered his praise and thanks the opening for the educational opportunity this exhibit offers.
“'Transfer of Memory' speaks to us of human faith in the midst and in the wake of human suffering,” Craft says.