Herman Lewinter photographs

Identifier
irn515114
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1990.135
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Russian
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Web Source

https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn515114

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

  • Herman Lewinter

Biographical History

Herman (Hersh) Lewinter (1907-1999) was born in Seretecz, Poland (now Seretets, Ukraine) to Emanuel Greensaid and Rosa Lewinter. He grew up in Markopol (Markopil') and Zloczow (Zolochiv). Lewinter worked as a photographer in Zloczow, and he and his wife Clara had a son named Manek. The Lewinter family was forced into the Zloczow ghetto during the German occupation. Lewinter was later transferred to the Janowska concentration camp, where he worked as the official camp photographer. He not only photographed scenes ordered by the Nazis but also documented the Holocaust through illegal photographs of atrocities. He escaped the camp and survived in hiding until liberation. His son was killed when the Zloczow ghetto was liquidated. After the war, Lewinter and his wife lived in Lviv with their second son, and Lewinter operated a photography studio. The family left the Soviet Union via the Bricha for Austria, where his daughter was born, and eventually immigrated to the United States.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

Herman Lewinter donated the Herman Lewinter photographs to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1990.

Scope and Content

The Herman Lewinter photographs document the Janowska concentration camp, Lvov (now Lviv, Ukraine), and Zloczow (now Zolochiv, Ukraine). Images depict prisoners, camp staff, the Janowska prisoner orchestra, and corpses. Photographs include 15 images that were presented at the Nuremberg Trials and 26 photographs of photo collages with Russian captions that Herman Lewinter created at the request of Soviet investigators of Nazi atrocities.

System of Arrangement

The Herman Lewinter photographs are arranged as a single file.

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

  • Mass burials--Ukraine--Lʹviv--1940-1950.
  • Dead persons--Ukraine--Lʹviv.
  • Military personnel--German--Ukraine--Lʹviv--1940-1950.
  • Prisoners--Ukraine--Lʹviv--1940-1950.
  • Hangings--Ukraine--Lʹviv--1940-1950.

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.