Exhibition: “There was a time... Jewish Family Photographs Before 1939”

UNESCO is hosting the Wiener Holocaust Library exhibition “There was a time... Jewish Family Photographs Before 1939” on the external fences of UNESCO Heaquarters to reflect on the richness and diversity of Jewish life in Europe before the Second World War.

The Wiener Holocaust Library has the UK’s largest archive of family papers related to Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe, including extensive collections of photographs: portraits, snapshots and albums. Most of these photographs are domestic, everyday images – they span holiday snaps from the 1920s, photo-postcards sent during the First World War, and formal studio portraits from the 1900s.

The images displayed are a selection of early twentieth-century photographs from ten collections connected to Jewish families in Germany and Austria, who used photography to express their identities and belonging within national cultures and local communities.

The exhibition pays tribute to the individuality and humanity of the Jewish men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, and raises awareness of the lost communities and cultures across Europe.

The exhibition is supported by the Permanent Delegation of Germany to UNESCO.