An exhibition entitled “Visions of the Holocaust", featuring the
Holocaust photographs colored by Yusuf Tolga Ünker upon the
permission of Yad Vashem and New York Holocaust Jewish Museum, was
launched on 24.01.2019 at the Quincentennial Foundation Museum of
Turkish Jews with the support of the Consulate General of Germany
in İstanbul.
At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Chief Rabbi of the
Jews in Turkey Rav İsak Haleva and the Consul General of Federal
Republic of Germany Michael Reiffenstuel gave speeches. Pianist
Renan Koen performed her piece entitled "Holocaust Remembrance
& Before Sleep."
The catalogue of this exhibition includes the following
information:
FACING THE HOLOCAUST
There is a safety in looking at black-and-white photographs
taken during the period of the Holocaust. The photographs being
black and white makes it clear to the observer that they were taken
a long time ago and remain in the past. These long-lasting images,
with careful and elaborate coloring, transform into contemporary
and interrelated scenes, which seem as if they were photographed in
the present.
These colorized photos allow us to create a connection with the
past as well as to allow the people in the photos to express
themselves in a stronger way. Colorizing these photos removes the
feeling of trust in black and white, in other words, removes the
black-and-white curtain. Thus, presents the reality of the
Holocaust in a very close or even threatening manner.
These works, which are done with digital coloring, could qualify
as a warning that we should work hard, in order to prevent hate and
racism and in order not to experience anything like this again in
the future.
However, only an artist could have seen the value of creating an
image from these iconic scenes and could effectively describe the
lives of holocaust victims.
For some it may be uncomfortable or shocking to see these
photographs, but the truth is that hate and prejudice are not easy
to accept. This colorized photo exhibition is for those who deny
these facts and for those who have forgotten. These racially-tinged
photographs bring denialists and forgetters face to face with their
denial of the terror and annihilation of the Nazis in the 1930s and
40s on the Jews. Rejection of the truth of the past may cause
repetition in the future. Ünker believes that, in order to prevent
this kind of an affront to humanity from ever happening again, we
must confront the past.
However, the main point to emphasize is the reason why we look
back at the Holocaust.
The truth is that people just take a quick look at these
pictures, say “how sad” and look away without thinking much about
them. That is why they prefer to look away. People are therefore
afraid when they see these pictures in color and are exposed to the
truth of fascism, which is more than a “how sad”.
“This is the exact reason why I colorize photographs,” says
Ünker. “I would say I paint them rather than colorize them because
when they are colored they look to be more modern and as if they
were from the present, threatening and frightening, as if we are
living this severity at the moment. The only thing I thought about
while doing the project was that such a terrible event should never
happen again. I want to make people feel closer to the events and
people who suffered from the Holocaust as well as to build
consciousness among people, especially new generations, about the
events of the past. My aim is to show people what is not want to be
seen and to discomfort them by taking them out of their comfort
zones and pulling them into the terror”
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