Generations

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester (left), and photographer Simon Hill HonFRPS (centre) meet Holocaust survivor Tomi Komoly BEM (right) at the opening of the Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors exhibition at Imperial War Museum North, in Manchester on 24 January 2023

It was an ambitious idea of Justin Cohen MBE, editor of Jewish News ... to commission photographs of more than 50 portraits of Holocaust survivors, to be taken by Fellows and Honorary Fellows of the Royal Photographic Society (RPS). But with the support of the RPS and in association with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and the Imperial War Museum, the idea became a reality.

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The result was the exhibition Generations: Portraits of Holocaust Survivors, which launched at IMW London in August 2021, opened by HRH The Princess of Wales, and then transferred to RPS Gallery, Bristol, on 27 January 2022 - Holocaust Memorial Day.

When the exhibition was expanded to include more survivors from the north of England - particularly from the Greater Manchester area with photographs taken by Simon Hill HonFRPS - the exhibition transferred again, this time to Imperial War Museum North in Manchester.

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“Each portrait represents a life shaped by extraordinary resilience. The survivors who made Britain their home have contributed immeasurably to the fabric of this country, and photographing many of them with their families is a powerful reminder that history lives through people. Portrait photography allows us to preserve that living testimony for future generations.”   Simon Hill CPhot HonFRPS