Poland
'Developing the Negative' /
Behind the scenes
“The exhibition ran for three weeks, attracting very positive feedback, and I hope it will travel in the future. It has an important message; that who we are and what we experience in life matters. ”
I’m afraid I’ve been bad at blogging! I have been so busy over the last year; traveling, studying for an MA, preparing work for exhibitions - not to mention my ‘real’ work; looking after a large household and looking out for my kids, that I just haven’t written up the important stuff!
Now whilst we still are under lockdown and travel anywhere is impossible I aim to give the viewer a ‘look behind the scenes’ and explain the projects themselves. Apart from anything else, it’s a good thing for me to do. Maybe one day a long time from now one of my family will read these offerings and gain a little insight into their history and how the discovery of that same history changed me.
Sir Ian Wood Building, Robert Gordon University
At the beginning of 2020, just as Coronavirus had shown up on the world’s radar as a distant but emerging threat, my attention was focused on bringing together three projects I have developed since 2017 for an exhibition. This was to be held in the concourse of the Sir Ian Wood Building, RGU at the invitation of Libby Curtis, Head of Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen. I aimed to tell a somewhat of an odyssey - a story that reached back into history pulling me in and in doing so, I hoped to engage others.
‘Developing the Negative’ SIWB concourse, RGU, Aberdeen. Febuary 2020
Beginning with a pilgrimage of my own, I planned to open the exhibition with three sections, the first dedicated to the search for my mother’s mysterious past entitled ‘Fragments that Remain’. Sandwiched in the middle section would be portraits and stories collected by descendants of Polish soldiers comprising the project ‘From Generation to Generation’- mostly gathered in my husband’s hometown of Fraserburgh (N.E.Scotland). For the final section, six portraits were to be included from a project I initiated entitled ‘Do You Know My Name?’, little-publicized stories gathered from survivors of terror attacks in Israel.
Rina Ariel speaking about her murdered 13 year old daughter, Hallel, to Faith Milne
One project led into another and so I endeavored to replicate this, taking people on a journey which begins by looking back, gathering fragments of information to gain context, then exploring how other’s experiences have shaped them. As part of the intricacies of my own journey, I have followed the peregrination of the Jewish people. I chose to sum up by highlighting some of the little known tragedies faced by those who have chosen to live in Israel today.
Holocaust Survivor Adam Adams, London.
I chose the name ‘Developing the Negative’ to encompass all three projects for its obvious connection to photography, but also because I wanted to highlight the character seen in those who have faced the unimaginable, each one featured emerging with so much to give others.
Preparation was undertaken on many levels; initially by identifying which stories to include. This was actually harder than it sounds! Each person I have met has touched me personally; all the stories were powerful, so cutting them out was a hard call. It was difficult as a photographer stepping back to decide which portrait was stronger, ensuring also that these images explored a narrative whilst sitting well next to each other. The need for consistency answered some of these questions; section one comprised of portraits whereas most of the strong images in section two were landscape crops.
George Cheyne and Jennie Milne, Febuary 29th 2020
I worked in collaboration with George Cheyne from RGU Arts and Heritage Trust, and ‘Look Again’ It was brilliant having such lovely professionals taking care of many details such as preparing the posters, interpretation panels, refreshments, and invitations. George prepared all the ‘walls’ and helped me hang the work. He is such a lovely guy and a real pleasure to work with.
Opening night saw individuals from a variety of backgrounds come together to view the work and listen to the explanatory presentation. Photographers, leading members of the Polish and Jewish Communities, genealogists, University lecturers, examiners and peers, family and friends all gathered in the university’s amphitheater, some traveling from as far as Shetland, Edinburgh, and Glasgow to be present. To say it was humbling is an understatement.
Libby Curtis introducing Jennie Milne. Opening night, RGU Amphitheatre
“This is an important body of work. Jennie’s commitment to her practice, and to this difficult and challenging subject, has brought the hidden stories of so many people to life. The connections and reach that her work has forged reveals the integrity and creative power of storytelling and importantly the medium of photography.
”
Developing the Negative presentation
The exhibition ran for three weeks, attracting very positive feedback, and I hope it will travel in the future. It has an important message; that who we are and what we experience in life matters. We must not be afraid of those who have suffered through no fault of their own, in fact, we can learn from them. Perspective counts. We should not be afraid to cross borders, rejecting prejudice to learn from one another. We are all human at the end of the day. The media does not always tell the truth, it can and sometimes does direct a narrative that hides the truth. We must take responsibility for our own learning and be open to others.
“This exhibition has an important message. I sincerely hope and pray it travels far.”
To view the exhibition online, please look under the ‘Exhibition’ tab on this website. To take a look at the projects mentioned in more depth look under the ‘Projects’ tab.
I am working on updating and adding information to my website so please keep coming back to check. Contact me directly if you wish to talk or ask any questions. I intend to blog about each project so watch out for that too. Finally, stay safe, and I hope to see you somewhere near your home when I am back on the road!
Many thanks to the wonderful ‘Developing the Negative’ sponsors. Your help is greatly appreciated!
Family Remembering Family.. /
Holocaust Remembrance Day 2020
“If we held a moment of silence for every victim of the Holocaust we would be silent for eleven and a half years.”
This evening, April 20th 2020, marks the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day or 'Yom HaShoah'.
In that devastating catastrophe that decimated the European Jewish community during the Second World War, my grandmother lost most of her family. The only family names my mother knew were her father's, her mother's first name; 'Helena,' and mums own descendants.
Separated from Helena shortly after her birth in 1943, mum didn't meet my grandmother again until the mid 60's. Following this reunion, she wrote poignantly 'My mother's sister, somewhere in Canada. The rest all murdered, or so I believe'
Over the past 5 years, Helena's sister, Irena's descendants, have been traced, living in the USA, and we have recovered some of the names of family members who perished in the Holocaust. We have come together, as a family to read their names. We will remember each of them.
Included in this remembrance is Holocaust survivor, Adam Adams (Izrael Melamed). Adam reads the names of his beloved parents and sisters. Whilst we read names to which we have no faces, Adam remembers; he alone survived.
In this strange time of lockdown, let us remember those who had no hope, who were isolated, starved, hidden, hunted down and murdered, and let us stand with those incredible survivors who after losing everything, continued in life and gave hope to the next generations.
#RememberingFromHome #ShoahNames #FragmentsThatRemain #YadVashem
Passport to the past /
March 6th 2020
I received the most incredible gift on Wednesday this week from my lovely cousin Renata - my grandmother's wartime Passport which enabled her to flee occupied Europe. Looking at the stamps, different Visa's and border crossings I am finally able to work out some of her route. One particular Nazi stamp, giving her permission to cross the Reich, left me cold. How must she have felt, waiting at Arnoldstein on the Austrian border for a German soldier to give her permission to cross?
My grandmother, Helena Lis, lost many of her family during the Holocaust, including her brother Henryk, who never made it out. I feel a tremendous sense pride and admiration that this diminutive woman, who had never had to 'do for herself' as she explained to my mother, found the courage to face the terror and complete the journey, arriving in the UK in July 1940. Of course, the alternative, staying in Poland, would have almost certainly meant death.
Her story didn’t end there.. after joining the Polish Army under British command and giving up her only child to continue to fight, Helena suffered further devastating losses, never shaking the fear she experienced whilst in occupied Europe, which continued until her death, alone in a Nursing home, at the age of 98 in 2000. Following WW2 she became terrified of being 'found by the Russians' sadly living in fear of betrayal by her own Polish community. Who could she trust? The devastation of war continues long after it ceases.
Following her death, her passport and ID papers were sent to her beloved nephew James in the USA, and given to me by his daughters. ..I am now honoured custodian of this incredible piece of history, without which none of Helena's descendants may exist. Its hard to decribe how it feels to hold so much history in my hands..Thank you, Renata!
My grandmother’s wartime Passport which literally saved her life and enabled ours
Final day for Fraserburgh Exhibition /
Today is the final day of my exhibition 'Fragments That Remain' at the Fraserburgh Heritage Centre. What a fantastic 8 months its been!
15 months ago I was approached in Weatherspoons by a member of the Heritage Centre staff and asked if I was the lady who had been telling the Polish stories. An invitation to use the temporary space at the end of the museum building followed and in January 2019 I began to put it all together.
Pre Opening Night. March 2019
Its been exciting- this is my first solo exhibition, and at times the response by participants has been very emotional. I've met some wonderful people, some of whom traveled hours to visit- all keen to remember their parents and grandparents courage and sacrifice, stating that teaching the truth regarding the Poles’ contribution to WW2 and betrayal afterward is long overdue.
I discovered that many people with no direct connection to the War in Poland had no idea that the Poles had largely been unable to return home and became exiles, often never seeing their family again. Most of the soldiers whose descendants I interviewed had been torn from their parents and driven into forced labour in Germany in their early teens, later to be conscripted into the German Army as cannon fodder. These boys were then captured and brought to the UK as POWs before being given the chance to fight in the Polish Army under British command, an opportunity they welcomed.
Polish Soldiers at Inverallochy Airfield. Photo courtesy of the Dyga Family
After the war, stateless and displaced, some of these soldiers fell in love and married girls from ‘the Broch’ where they had been laterally posted. They settled down and raised families, worked hard and buried the pain of their past, giving very little indication of the horrors they had endured. Their children and grandchildren spoke of them with deep pride and affection- but sorrow for their ancestor’s hidden heartache remained close to the surface.
This scenario is repeated thousands of times throughout Britain and other places in the world.
Also included in the Exhibition are the stories of Holocaust survivors, Adam and Alicia Melamed Adam, both of whom lost their entire families in the Shoah. They have a direct connection to my grandmother’s family and have become very dear to me.
Teresa Somkowicz also features long with her daughter, Kika. I traced Teresa from an old photograph with my grandmother I had been sent from Poland in 2015. Teresa was born Princess Teresa Świdrygiełło-Świderska-Wągl , but was sent in a cattle train to Khazakstan with her mother and sister when she was just 10 years old, enduring -40% temperatures.
This Exhibition was intended to highlight the courage and sacrifice of the millions affected as a result of WW2 in Poland- we must never forget. Their voices may be silenced, their memory confined to history but it is time to allow their lives to speak.
I hope to continue to share their stories, through exhibitions and presentations and am currently planning a fresh Exhibition at the Sir Ian Wood Building, Robert Gordon University in February next year.
As I left the Heritage Centre this afternoon, for the last open day, a shed a tear. Thank you to all who have been involved and have helped in any way.
Special thanks to the Fraserburgh Heritage Centre for making this possible, The Polish Consul General in Edinburgh for funding and Grays School of Art for support.
I owe a huge debt to Polish Historians Janusz Ral and Robert Ostrycharz whose expert help and dedication made all the difference.
Also thanks to Magdelina Konieczna for translating several panels to Polish.
This video is for all my lovely descendants' families, for their fathers and others whose lives were forever changed because of the war.
Retracing footsteps /
‘To be rooted is perhaps the most important, and least recognized need of the human soul’
(The Need for Roots ~ Simone Weil)
I have recently returned from a trip to Warsaw, Poland, at which I presented a talk on the search for my mothers family at the 38th International Jewish Genealogy Conference. I intended to blog whilst I was there but was unable to find the time. I hope to retrace my steps in a series of posts. I may be unable to recapture the intensity of emotion I felt whilst I was immersed in the experience, but since I have returned home my thoughts have been reflective. This has enabled me to begin to process the overwhelming sense of sorrow, joy, and connection I experienced during my 8 day stay- emotion which at the time I did not have the words to express. As they say in Scotland 'Somethings are better felt than telt'.
For those of you who are not familiar with my story and subsequent search, this blog will offer some background. For those of you who are, or who have been part of my journey - please bear with me!
I am a mum of 9. That fact alone lends itself to blog posts to infinity! In this post, I add that information to give you an understanding of my background. I grew up in a very turbulent and troubled home, and lacked a connection with my mother. My gentle father died tragically when I was 10 years old. My childhood, and that of my siblings was marked by uncertainty and loss.
I grew up with the knowledge that my mother, born in London in 1943, had been 'left' in a war time babies home in Hope Cove, Devon, when she was less than 2 weeks old, whilst her Polish mother continued to fight in the Polish Army under British Command. The promise her mother made to collect her after the war ended never materialized, and in my mum's words "I was left like a lost luggage parcel'. The babies home was run by Nurse Rose Toms - herself an orphan. She eventually chose to raise my mother as her own child.
Looking back..
Despite being provided with a stable and loving home, my mother never felt she fitted in. She told me a few months before her untimely death in 2014 that she didn't feel she belonged anywhere. She had no roots, no context to her existence, no relatives to compare herself with or enable her to understand her strong will and restless personality. All of these factors affected her ability to connect with the large family she created for herself.
My childhood and subsequent adult life was marked by the desire to understand my mother - and myself in relation to her. At times I did not want to belong, I was unsure how to love her, and our relationship came to be the one which defined the way I conducted all others. She shaped me for better or worse.
Shortly before my mum died, I encouraged her to write down every detail about her background she possessed. I wanted to find her family for her. Sadly however, she became very ill and died before I had begun to search. Standing before her coffin, I realized that although I knew her better than perhaps I knew anyone else, I did not know her at all. It was this absence of knowledge that prompted me to uncover the truth.
5 short months later, on my birthday, I found myself in a cafe in Glasgow with renowned Jewish genealogist Michael Tobias and his lovely wife Jane. As a result of my digging, Michael had located my grandmothers records in the Jewish registry books from Stryj, Poland (now in Ukraine). I was Jewish.
Since that day I have managed to uncover a wealth of information concerning both my grandparents. My Polish catholic grandfather had been a member of the Polish Government before the war, and a member of the government in exile in London following the war. My grandmother originated from a wealthy Jewish family in a place called Drohobych. Her maiden name had been Malie Rothenberg, although she changed names and identities so frequently that a glance at the death certificate for Baroness Helena Konopka would never have identified her.
Over the 4 years I have traced 3 generations of living 2nd cousins and met 2 of them. My grandmothers 2nd cousin, Rina, my mothers 2nd cousin Alan, and my own 2nd cousins, Sandy and Renata. For me genealogy is a living thing. It provides a connection to history and heritage, roots and relationship. I have always regarded relationships with people to be the most important thing in life.
So there is a little background. Never did I conceive that 4 short years after I met Michael and Jane Tobias, I would accompany them to Warsaw to speak of my discoveries...especially Warsaw - the most significant and poignant of all places. My grandparents lived in the city and fled in 1939, never to return.
This blog is attached to my photography website. The search I have undertaken has fueled my creativity and desire to connect with others with similar backgrounds and history, leading me to produce documentary work around the themes of memory, heritage, identity and displacement.
Please feel free to engage with me, ask questions, give insights. ..and follow me so that you may join me as I process and relate this journey- the story of a family shaped by circumstances beyond their control, by hardship and loss - and yet by their desire to rise above and to live. Is that not the human story?
To be continued...
