Children of a Vanished World: Photographs by Roman Vishniac

Between 1935 and 1938, Roman Vishniac, perhaps the most well-known photographer of pre-War European Jewry, took thousands of photographs of shtetls and cities in Eastern Europe and the Jews who called them home. Fifty of these pictures were first shown in New York City in 2000 in this captivating presentation which will be on view at the National Yiddish Book Center from May 4 – August 31, 2008.

These haunting images were taken when Vishniac was on assignment for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Eastern Europe to photograph poor Jews to be featured in a fund-raising effort. He was particularly drawn to the ubiquitous images of traditional Jewish life. Sometimes using a hidden camera, Vishniac was able to capture the real moments in the lives of his subjects. Children, a favorite topic of Vishniac’s, were photographed in the course of everyday routine, just before their world was about to change forever. A musical “sound loop,” containing six Yiddish songs, was created especially for this exhibition to complement and give context to the photographs.

As the Jews of Germany encountered worsening conditions under Nazi rule, Vishniac made plans to safeguard his photographs. Through the efforts of family and friends, nearly 2,000 negatives reached the United States. In May 1939, his daughter, Mara, was sent to Sweden where her mother and brother later joined her. During that time, Vishniac was in France and eventually was detained in an internment camp for several months. The family was reunited in Lisbon and came to the United States in 1940.

Vishniac’s photographs were published in the book Children of a Vanished World (University of California Press, 1999). The book features translations of Yiddish nursery rhymes, songs, poems, and chants for children’s games accompanying the photographs. The volume was co-edited by the photographer’s daughter, Mara Vishniac Kohn, and Miriam Hartman Flacks nine years after the photographer’s death in New York City at the age of 92.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust’s three-floor Core Exhibition educates people of all ages and backgrounds about the rich tapestry of Jewish life over the past century—before, during, and after the Holocaust. The Museum offers visitors a vibrant public program schedule in its Edmond J. Safra Hall. It is also home to Andy Goldsworthy’s memorial Garden of Stones, as well as James Carpenter’s Reflection Passage, Gift of The Gruss Lipper Foundation. The Museum receives general operating support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and is a founding member of the Museums of Lower Manhattan. Funding for this exhibition was generously provided by Tina and Steven Price.

The National Yiddish Book Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing Yiddish and other modern Jewish literature and celebrating the culture they contain. Cultural and educational programming at the National Yiddish Book Center is a project of the Jack and Ruthe B. Cowl Center for Jewish Culture.