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A Lasting Imprint: Photos Document a Vibrant Town Destroyed

Virtual Event
This photo, part of a 54-foot tower in the Museum featuring images from one town, shows a boy named Yankele (right) with his two cousins, Shifrale (center) and her brother Motele, in March 1938. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of the Shtetl Foundation

This photo, part of a 54-foot tower in the Museum featuring images from one town, shows a boy named Yankele (right) with his two cousins, Shifrale (center) and her brother Motele, in March 1938. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of the Shtetl Foundation

Snowy days, birthdays, and every important milestone. More than 1,000 photos capture the simple pleasures of residents of Eisiskes. They abruptly ended after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union and soldiers came to their town, in what is now Lithuania. The murder of six million Jews began in places like Eisiskes. Over two days in September 1941, the Germans and their collaborators murdered the Jewish townspeople face-to-face, at the distance of the barrel of a rifle. On World Photography Day, we’ll learn some of the personal stories behind these photos, which survive as proof of a once-vibrant Jewish community.

Speaker
Judith Cohen, former Chief Acquisitions Curator, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Host
Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Watch live at facebook.com/holocaustmuseum. You do not need a Facebook account to view our program. After the live broadcast, the recording will be available to watch on demand on the Museum’s Facebook and YouTube pages.

 

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