From 1933 to 1945, Hitler led the Nazis in an attack on millions of people, including Jews, Christian priests and pastors, gypsies, disabled, and homosexuals. The innocence of these people failed to halt the atrocities and bystanders became numb to the brutal defilement. Powerful techniques of propaganda and examples of conformation convinced many people to commit these horrors or maintain ignorance. The carnage wreaked havoc on a great number of people, leaving behind few survivors. However, despite these harsh conditions, resistance prevailed as some people worked to hide the victims from their assailants and others fought to survive in concentration camps or ghettos. The images in the photo essay by Izzy White from this destructive time exemplify the pernicious and dark nature of the crimes committed, while also engendering inspiration to care for and protect people of all different races and backgrounds.

In the pictures taken during the time of the Holocaust, elements such as quality, countenances, and focus reinforce the appalling ideologies of that massacre. The first picture depicting a stern-looking Hitler executing the Nazi salute demonstrates the resolve Hitler had to carry out his plans of mass extermination. The black and white value and his forbidding facial expression emphasizes the gloomy and somber mood during his reign and sets the historical basis. His stance, rigid and looking up with straight posture, exhibits the confidence he exuded that his race was the superior one. The focus remains on his figure, and especially on the swastika, the Nazi symbol, since the area around him is blurred and the swastika is the darkest part of the image and in the forefront. In this same way, Hitler could only focus on his own opinions and movement encompassed by the swastika. The second picture of the German soldiers marching though the city of Warsaw establishes the blindness with which people followed Hitler’s advances. The expressions of the soldiers are blank, as though they are mindlessly carrying out orders. The men are difficult to distinguish from one another and seem to stretch on for a large distance which indicates how widespread this tragedy extended. The focus seems to be on the vast number of soldiers coming from many different directions since there are also men on the other side of the street. As they march in time together, they create a human wall illustrating the ostensibly intimidating and adamantine force of the Nazis. Additionally, the third image of the children in the Auschwitz concentration camp displays the hardships endured by all people, even faultless youth. The focus remains on the striped uniforms and the barbed wire fence trapping them, creating a sense of the dehumanization that occurred. The rags wrapped around them and the dirt and grime covering them shows the mistreatment and malnourishment of those deemed unworthy. Children are usually pictured with carefree spirits and oblivious manners, but these children maintain downcast and hardened faces. This loss of innocence in the youth represents another addition to the damage done by the Nazi ideology. The images of Hitler, the German soldiers, and the children in Auschwitz begin to reveal the devastation caused by Nazism, especially with the lack of color, unfeeling countenances, and the main focus of the picture.

Images from the photo essay that were taken after the eradication of the Holocaust serve as reminders of the value of lives lost while also providing inspiration for the prevention of repeated horrors with the restoration of color and stories of survival. The presence of color in these pictures acts as a representation of life returning to the people that Hitler attempted to take, and the end to a time of despair and darkness. The image of the shoes from the Holocaust Memorial Museum presents an indication of the great number and variety of lives lost. The different styles of the shoes reveal the lack of preparation these people had for the cruelness they were about to go through. The shoes appear broken down and old which serves as a comparison to what the victims went through. The piles of bodies that were left in the aftermath of the annihilation also correlate to the pile of shoes. The quote included above the shoes suggests that although the victims are no longer around, the shoes remain as the last witnesses of the horrors endured. The tower of photos from a Jewish community that was massacred during the Holocaust reinforces the multitude of people whose lives were destroyed. While Hitler sought to defile these people, these photos serve to provide them identities and show their value as human beings. Hitler failed to rid the Earth of these people, and now they will be remembered forever in these images. The pictures are framed in order to give the due respect to the people, but also could compare to the entrapment of the people as the frame encases the picture. Lastly, a picture was taken with an Auschwitz concentration camp survivor, Bluma Schapiro, who gives testimonies about her story of strength. The proof of survival gives hope that a renewed tenacity and fortitude came from a bleak time. While she covers her Auschwitz tattoo with her hand, a constant reminder of past pain, her courage in telling her story many times reveals an unrelenting vigor to defeat evil. She demonstrates her true strength in continuing on with her story, while still marked by the Holocaust, both physically and emotionally. The pictures of the shoes worn by victims of the Holocaust, the tower of photos, and the Holocaust survivor provide hope for the continued battle against calamity, while giving recognition to those deserving losses.

This set of images pays homage to the victims of senseless cruelty as it tells their stories through color quality, facial expressions, and the main focus of the picture. While many Holocaust survivors declare that a certain amount of luck played into survival, the will to never give up also bolstered their chances. These hopeful people continue to show forgiveness and reveal their perseverance in surviving. The unimaginable brutality these people faced remains clear in every image portraying the Holocaust. However, current images taken of survivors serve as encouragement to avoid this kind of evil in the future.
