Holocaust is considered one of the biggest tragedies in the history of the modern world. The genocide of European Jews by the Nazis still sends a chill down the spines of many and particularly those whose forefathers are among the 6 million slaughtered. For those who were lucky enough to survive the Holocaust, it’s a time of their lives that they will never get over. Many of these survivors from Germany, Israel, and Austria were photographed by Konrad Rufus Muller. The renowned photographer is now donating these 41 vintage photos to the Jewish Museum Berlin, reported DW. Each person photographed by Muller has a unique story to tell.
According to the report, survivor Rachel Oschitzki recalls being saved by a Schutzstaffelman who stopped her on her way to the gas chamber of the Auschwitz concentration camp and sent her back. Gabi, an older inmate, advised her to claim to be over the age of 18 because younger inmates were transported to the gas chambers. She also had a doctor who approved her for factory employment, allowing her to flee Auschwitz and a Czech man who prevented her from riding in a Russian truck after the war.
The vehicle would have brought her to Siberia, as she later discovered. 94-year old Ochitizki is one of the 25 Holocaust survivors photographed and interviewed by photographer Konrad Rufus Muller and Austrian journalist Alexandra Föderl-Schmid. Förderl-Schmid was able to contact Holocaust survivors in Germany, Austria, and Israel which led to interviews with pictures that Muller donated to the museum.
Hetty Berg, director of the museum, in a press release said that Muller has tried to capture the life experiences of those portrayed through the survivors’ hands and faces, leading to a dense collection. She expressed his delight at the photos making their way to her museum.
Muller was inspired to create the picture project after reading a story by journalist Alexandra Föderl-Schmid about a Holocaust survivor. After that, he sent her an email, and the two of them planned to go on a journey to meet other survivors. As a result, in 2019, the book “Unfassbare Wunder” (Unbelievable wonders) was released. “Alexandra spent an hour talking to each person, and during that time I found a location where I would photographically portray the person or persons,” Muller told DW.
Photographing German chancellors such as Konrad Adenauer, Willy Brandt, and Helmut Kohl made Konrad Rufus Muller famous in Germany. He used a Rolleiflex camera without additional lighting and still works that way to date.
