In 2000, I completed a photodocumentary project highlighting human rights abuses by the Nazis throughout Europe. For part of that project, I met some Danes who were involved in that country’s famous boat lift of its Jewish citizens to Sweden to escape being deported and murdered by the Nazis at death camps. It is one of the few positive stories from this incredibly sad, psychologically dark, and awful episode of human history. One of the couples I met, David and Lilian Birnbaum of Aarhus, Denmark, met in Sweden after they were successfully carried to temporary safety. Some recent exchanges I had from someone who knows them made me think about their incredible story again and how wonderful it was to have stumbled on such a bright tale from such an awful time. The other photo I am including is a sample from hundreds of photos I took at more than 20 death and concentration camps scattered across Europe. This one, Stutthof, is located about 35 kilometers east of Gdansk. It was a terrible place to those sent there. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)
What Beautiful Light 