About

Here to Tell: Faces of Holocaust Survivors is a commemorative and educational photography exhibit featuring both living and deceased Holocaust survivors. The exhibit sheds light on each of the survivors' Shoah (Hebrew word for the Holocaust) experiences, while also providing a glimpse into their lives lived post-war.   

Here to Tell: Faces of Holocaust Survivors comprises of 39 portraits of living survivors and 122 images of deceased survivors, held up in the hands of their descendants. Each photograph is accompanied by a brief personal account of the survivor's Holocaust experience and life after the war. To impart and reinforce the important lessons about the Holocaust, this project consists of three components: a photography exhibit, book, and short documentary, all in conjunction with an 18-panel Yad Vashem Holocaust display.

The vision, goal and direction for this project originated with Marnie Bondar and Dahlia Libin, executive producers and volunteer co-chairs for the Holocaust and Human Rights: Remembrance and Education department of Calgary Jewish Federation. Marnie Burkhart, daughter of a Holocaust survivor and renowned photographer of Jazhart Studios Inc. was commissioned as the primary photographer for the project. 

The unique circumstances of taking photographs of Holocaust survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic were so extraordinary that behind-the-scenes photographs by photographer Adam Brener, and a documentary filmed by Fedele Arcuri from Rum Punch Media, help tell the story of Here to Tell: Faces of Holocaust Survivors. These images and filmed footage of the making of this project truly capture the unmediated moments of honest emotion, moments of levity, and glimpses of grief.