“Concentration camp survivors” – exhibition at the Villa Seligmann
As contemporary witnesses of Nazi crimes, the survivors of the concentration and extermination camps with their different biographies are the focus of the work of Regensburg photographer Stefan Hanke. In cooperation with the Landesmuseum Hannover, Villa Seligmann presents impressive black and white portraits and invites viewers to a lasting encounter with extraordinary people. From 2004 to 2014, photographer Stefan Hanke (born in Regensburg in 1961) visited 121 survivors of Nazi concentration camps in seven European countries. Without a preconceived victim template, Hanke portrayed them in their living environment or at historical sites of their suffering. The composition and location of the images reflect the history of the protagonists.
“Although the survivors were liberated from the Nazi concentration camps, their ordeal did not end there. Many had lost some or all of their families and were severely traumatized. After liberation, each of them went their own way of coming to terms with this catastrophe. Many remained silent about their fate for the rest of their lives or only spoke about their suffering in old age. How did they fare, how did people continue to live with this burden of the incomprehensible? These questions accompanied me when I visited survivors of all the persecuted groups that could still be reached in their twilight years.” – Stefan Hanke
Hanke’s portraits are interpretations of his personal encounters with the survivors using the means of artistic photography. Surprising statements in the form of quotes and unexpected historical references give the personal paths of life and suffering their own face and enable a special access to the history(ies) surrounding one of the greatest catastrophes of humanity. Since 2013, the traveling exhibition “KZ überlebt” has been visited by around 130,000 people at over 20 locations in Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. As part of the exhibition, the virtual reality project “Die wenige Zeit” by the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF can be seen at the Landesmuseum Hannover. In the documentary, which can be viewed with special VR glasses, visitors meet Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer, who tells her story herself.
