A fascinating reappraisal of the photographic memory of pre-war European Jewry by Alana Newhouse in the New York Times Magazine.
Read the whole piece. But one thing I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on. Alana begins the piece with a look at an iconic photograph (actually two photographs but serving as one) and explains that what we’d been told was happening in the photo is almost certainly false. I was struck by this because the mood of the faces in the photo seems playful, not terrorized or fearful. I thought this before I even read her description. So it seems odd to me that anyone could ever have believed the original description. What am I talking about? Hard to tell without seeing the photo. So hop over to Alana’s piece, see the photo and read the first few paragraphs and then come back and let me know what you think.
Once you’ve done that go back and read the whole thing.
Late Update: For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Newhouse is the Editor-in-Chief of Tablet, an online magazine of Jewish news and culture.
