WHY MOMS MAKE GREAT ADVOCATES Read more on page 1B
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VO L . 75 N O. 10 Photographer Luigi Toscano prepares to photograph Holocaust survivor Rachel Miller during Toscano’s recent visit to St. Louis.
PHOTO: BILL MOTCHAN
Holocaust remembrance project links to St. Louis survivors
BY BILL MOTCHAN
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
As a boy growing up in Mainz, Germany, Luigi Toscano was fascinated by World War II. But he was frustrated by a lack of detail about a dark period in the country’s history: the Holocaust. His history teacher offered little information, and his textbook contained only a couple of photographs. So Toscano did his own research and eventually visited Auschwitz to learn more. “I was shocked,” said Toscano, 50. “I remember standing in front of this whole mountain of kinder shoes, and I cannot believe that that happened.” That haunting experience motivated Toscano to launch an ambitious Holocaust remembrance project
eight years ago. Now a noted filmmaker and photographer who was named an Ambassador of Goodwill last year by UNESCO, Toscano’s “Lest We Forget” is a series of more than 400 images of sur-
Luigi Toscano
vivors that has been exhibited around the world. Last week, Toscano spent several days in St. Louis photographing 12 local survivors. He and Dee Dee Simon, chair of the Missouri Holocaust Education and Awareness Commission, also met with Washington University to discuss a public art exhibition of his photographs on campus, which may happen in October. Toscano would oversee the installation. Three years ago, he took his work to Kansas City. That exhibition featured seven survivors from the area including Sonia Warshawski, a Prairie Village, Mo., tailor who grew up in Miedzyrzec, Poland, and whose story was told in the 2016 documentary “Big Sonia.” During his visit here last week, Toscano received assistance and introductions to
Nominations open for Unsung Heroes! The Jewish Light is now requesting nominations for its 13th annual Unsung Heroes awards. Roughly six to eight honorees will be celebrated in the Light’s newspaper and on its digital platforms, as well as at a special event on Wednesday, Nov. 2 This year, nominations will be accepted online at w w w.stljewishlight.org/
unsung. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Friday, July 8. Heroes will be notified by the end of July. The Light solicits nominations of volunteers making a major impact through their work without seeking substantial public recognition for their efforts. Honorees can be individuals or groups who are either Jewish or non-Jewish mak-
ing a difference within the Jewish community and/or Jewish individuals or groups making a difference in the community-at-large. To learn about past Unsung Heroes honorees and watch their video stories, go to www.stljewishlight.org/heroes.
survivors from the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum and Marci Rosenberg, former chair of the museum who has worked with Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation. The Jewish Light accompanied Toscano during his visit to two survivors to see a master of portraiture in action. Rachel Miller and Oskar Jakob have shared their stories before. But being photographed by a non-Jewish, German-born artist was a new experience. Toscano travels light and works fast. His gear consists of a black drape for a background, a simple ring light and a sophisticated digital camera. The actual photo shoot takes all of two or three minutes. Most of the time he spent with his subjects See SURVIVORS on page 10A