Last weekend I had the chance to go see a special installation displayed on the fence outside of the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan. The photos are one half of an exhibition memorializing the victims and survivors of the Holocaust titled Survivors, Victims and Perpetrators, and were taken by Italian photographer Luigi Toscano as part of the Lest We Forget project. (I haven’t yet had the opportunity to see the other half of the exhibit, which is located inside the Visitors’ Center.)
The photos are larger than life and intensely powerful. The survivors’ faces engage the viewers; both hope and sorrow are visible in their gazes. Each one is accompanied by a small card that gives each survivor’s name, place and date of birth, date and details of arrest and detention, and information about liberation. Some cards had additional heartbreaking details about what happened to other members of the survivor’s family during the Holocaust. Two even had the caps they had worn in the concentration camps.
Here are some of the photos that stayed with me even after I left the site.
I’m going to stop with these, as I don’t want to ruin the exhibition for those who have the chance to visit it themselves. Hopefully from these you can understand why I found the photographs so gripping.
Want to see this powerful exhibition in person? It’s located at the entrance to the United Nations headquarters on First Avenue, between 46th and 48th Streets. (The M15 bus runs north along First Avenue, if you are traveling by public transportation.) Survivors, Victims and Perpetrators is only on view through the end of February 2018.
Finding NYC 
Marvelous.
What a stunning exhibit. Thank you for sharing it, Susan.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post – thanks for reading it, Susan.
Great Blog Post Susan
I’m passing it along to friends
Looking forward to your reporting
on the rest of the show
Thanks for reading the post – as well as passing it along. I’ll post an update once I see the inside exhibition, which is only open on weekdays.
Yes, some absolutely fantastic photographs, Thank you for sharing them with us. .
Reblogged this on John Knifton and commented:
This blog is written by Susan Landrum who lives in New York and it is called “Finding NYC”. It is a wonderful blog to follow because she deals primarily with art exhibitions and other artistic themes. This post is a little different. It shows the photographs of Holocaust survivors outside the United Nations building. Enjoy a wonderful set of photographs and try to remember who and what they represent.
Thank you for sharing, Those faces reflect so much of what their life must have been. Regards
Wicked beautiful post, Susan. These pictures are so inspiring!
wow they are something, aren’t they? So much character, so many lives lived in the lines on those faces…
Interesting and moving. Such a direct gaze from them all and, apart from one man with a half smile, so somber. Unimaginable what they must have lived through.
I agree – I felt like each one could look into my soul somehow. The approach the photographer took was very effective.
Powerful indeed. A reminder of lives lived beyond the camps, and of the ongoing pain of the Holocaust.
Thank you!
Thank you for linking to the video, Mr. Toscano. Your photographs are very moving.
The photographs are amazing. It must be so interesting to see them up close. What an important project.
They are so powerful because when you stand in front of them you are basically eye level – just so emotional. There’s just naked truth.
Dear Susan, thank you!
What an amazing exhibition Susan – deeply moving and an immensely powerful presentation. A few years back we were in Berlin at the time of a rolling series of exhibitions “Diversity Destroyed 1933 – 1938” to remember and honour the victims of the appalling events (it was 80 years since the Nazis came to power). They had posters all around the city each one with a photo and a story of a particular person – it was haunting, lest we forget.
The reminders of what happened during the Holocaust are so important, and I find photography so powerful in conveying that message. Somehow today it seems even more salient.
I agree it seems particularly salient today and photography is such a powerful medium. It is so important to never forget – my husband was watching Schindler’s List again recently I have never been able to watch it all the way through but am determined to force myself. I cannot even begin to fathom the suffering. Also have recently discovered unknown Jewish heritage courtesy of an Ancestry DNA test and am now uncovering family secrets from the 19th century (a “non parental event”). I can never understand discrimination of any sort – we are all so closely connected – more so than we realise much of the time.