Ildi Hermann talks about her most recent installation, Missing Stories, a project which began 3 years ago and was proudly supported by Asylum’s small grants program.
The idea of this project was born out of my own missed opportunity. The stories I never asked nor heard about from my grandmother who survived the Holocaust inspired me to make the stories of others both visible and readable to the public. This was an endeavor to fill in the gaps of what is known about the everyday experience of this period.
I decided to look for Hungarian-born Jews living in New York to hear their stories, record their fates and take their photos.
These stories have never been part of public knowledge and they are not only missing from our perception of the Holocaust, but also from the stories known in Hungary about the Shoah.
This exhibition consisted of ten portraits of survivors and their stories. I also took pictures of their personal objects that have a connection to their Hungarian-Jewish past.
The most emotional part of the opening was to meet these people again and show them the result. It was so touching to see that being part of this project was as important for them as it was for me. That’s why I was very happy to bring this exhibition to New York. It was the only way I could show it to them.
