On display in 'Stories of Survival' are the ragged birth and liberation certificates of Irene Horn, discovered in a desk drawer in 2017. Next to the photographs is Richard Horn’s message, briefly telling his story of the discovery of the documents. These are more than just sheets of paper to the Horns; they are the glue that kept part of the family together through the darkest of days. They are clear evidence that seemingly commonplace objects can have stories behind them that are not only meaningful but also compelling and inspiring.
Lommasson, the exhibit’s photographer, commented on the papers, saying, “A document can save your life.”
‘How ironic’
If a visitor to the exhibit did not read the description next to the photograph of a tattered wallet with a bullet hole, she might think the Nazis shot the hole in the wallet. The real explanation is not so simple.
Albert Loeb was a German soldier in World War I, and he claims the wallet in his pocket saved his life when he was shot in the leg. Adjacent to the image of the billfold, Loeb’s granddaughter, Ellie Merar, writes, “How ironic and horrific that he wore this wallet in WWI fighting FOR the Germans, and then had to flee from those very same Germans in 1937 because of the Nazis.”
The war-torn wallet is a stark symbol of German history, and an emblematic reminder that some societies, even those for which people put their lives on the line, can remain vulnerable to descent into genocide.
“Any of us could be put in those conditions under certain circumstances,” Lommasson said.
The opening of the exhibition. Fot.: IHMEC