“The eyes are the mirror of the soul”
For the first time in a long time I held the shot of the old lady, her face full frame in my viewfinder and for a moment it felt like our eyes locked as she turned and stared down the lens. I could not button off, and stop recording.
The eyes almost hollow and black had seen hell.
Every now and then you meet people who touch you, sometimes it is not physical, sometimes you cannot understand why, we did not share a language or even speak a word.
I was filming in a centre where Holocaust Survivors live.
What these people have seen nobody knows, but through their eyes they have seen the worst of man. The have captured images in their souls that can never be replayed to anyone, like my images.
Filming anything to do with the Holocaust, is hard. espicially here in Israel. There are events in this world that should never be forgotten and as the survivors grow older and pass away, the photographs and films of the Holocaust will be left for history.
But the eyes that witnessed the death camps will be gone, perhaps that is what held me yesterday. In my own way I witness scenes and events of horror, images that can never be filmed, but they are burnt into my soul.
Maybe when our eyes met yesterday it was our souls that communicated.
Around the room, more eyes searched for mine.
5 comments:
Thanks Mal...you made connection with us with your photo and words today. An important entry that the world needs to see over and over...this part of your work...these images that you have been so faithful to bring us from all over the world make us remember, as you say, that the world indeed is full of evil men. You inspire us to do whatever we can daily, without growing weary, no matter what personal sacrifice and work it takes, to stop them where we can. We appreciate your humor, your writing about running, but today you gave us the part of your work that makes us love you. Kindred spirits indeed.
AZ
Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.
I am touched! And yet, there are some, such as Ahmadinejad, who say it never happened. They would like to do it all over again.
There is a woman who lives in my area who is interviewing all of the holocaust survivors she can connect with and she's going to write a book. I am so grateful to her for doing that. We musn't forget - ever.
Over the years, I've seen much history through your eyes - images of the wars in Iraq, images of the Israeli evacuations and now this. I will not forget this woman's eyes.
Thank you for sharing the stories. We need to know and they need to be remembered.
Their eyes were searching for you and I am so thankful that yours are searching for theirs.
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