Michael Marvins will discuss the life and work of his grandfather Zalman Kaplan. Kaplan’s photos of pre-WWII Jewish life are featured in the exhibition Lives Remembered: Photographs of a Small Town in Poland 1897-1939 on view September 27, 2008 – January 11, 2009. Marvins has spent years tracking down his grandfather’s photos, many of which were published in the book Lives Remembered: A Shtetl Through a Photographer’s Eye. This program is generously supported by the World Cultural Economic Forum. Reception to follow co-sponsored by Touro Synagogue. For more information call 877-813-3329 x 229.
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
http://www.nationalww2museum.org/exhibitions/special_exhibitions.html
Lives Remembered: Photographs of a Small Town in Poland 1897-1939 illustrates Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust through reproductions of more than 100 photographs of the small town of Szczuczyn, Poland. This special exhibition is on loan from the Holocaust Museum Houston. These photographs capture the ordinary lives of the residents during the years leading up to the Nazi invasion. These photographs were taken by Zalman Kaplan in Szczuczyn, where he established a business as the local photographer.
Kaplan’s grandson, Michael Marvins, spent years collecting photographs by his grandfather from the descendants of the families that lived in Szczuczyn. The photographs reveal another side of the small Polish town contrary to the often associated images of Orthodox Jews. They show a rich and diverse way of life that was not so different from our own today. This exhibit puts faces on the millions of men, women and children who perished in the Holocaust. The photographs are of ordinary people leading common lives. The exhibit shows what can happen to everyday people when hate and intolerance are allowed to flourish.