Amanda Dait

Images from The Chronicle.

Growing up seemingly far removed from war, being ignorant to what it is like to live in a dangerous environment or during a time and place when who you were had ramifications on your life, learning of something as horrific as the Holocaust can be quite a slap in the face, but one that needs to be felt and deliberated over.

Henryk Ross was a Polish Jew during the Holocaust who was assigned to work in a Nazi ghetto as a staff photographer. He was given use of a camera and tasked with photographing individuals for identification records as well as to document the “good” that came from the ghetto – i.e., the forced labor of Jewish people that in turn provided the production of goods for Nazi troops.

Despite this task, Ross and his wife took it upon themselves to risk their lives and photograph the heartbreak, torture and tribulations that Jews working and living in the ghetto faced each day. When he could sneak photos, Ross would photograph the atrocities that occurred in the ghetto. Prior to being removed, he buried his negatives in the ground with the hopes that they could one day be rediscovered to show what went on when the world looked on — something that proved vital as he was able to return in 1945, following liberation, and print the negatives for the world to see.

These photographs offer a level of discomfort that demands to be felt. Looking at the contrast between the pictures of people being marched to concentration camps and inevitable death compared to children that were raised in The Lodz Ghetto, knowing nothing other than this lifestyle, it is heartbreaking to see the resilience that was forced upon these individuals and the helplessness of those that had lives prior to encampment. Ross’s work elicits a connection to the moment, even for individuals that have never faced anything remotely similar to his circumstances. He provides a historical record to encapsulate a moment in time while simultaneously demanding recognition of a time period we will never forget. His work suggests that life goes on, even in the face of adversity, and makes me come to terms with the fact that documenting each stage of life is so vital to tell the story of how we lead the lives we live.

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Images by AMANDA DAIT

The subject of these photos is Madeline. Madeline is a sophomore at Penn State studying food science. Her hometown is Morristown, New Jersey and she spoke on her process of choosing Penn State saying she enjoyed the community PSU had to offer and that quite a few people from her hometown are here as well. She comes from a small, close-knit family but said despite this, it’s exciting having the opportunity to be away from home.

When I asked Madeline, who goes by Maddy, and her two friends Wendy and Elilta, what brought them out on such a cold day, their immediate response was “procrastination,” which is a fair and relatable point for most college students. The girls remarked that the night before, Sunday, they weren’t feeling motivated to drag themselves out of their dorms in South Halls to be surrounded by other students that decided to take move-in carts, lunch trays – anything they could scrounge up, really – for sledding down the HUB lawn.

“We just wanted something more lowkey, that’s why we grabbed the sleds we brought from home,” Madeline said.

Madeline explained that none of them were trying to be surrounded by too many people, a precaution to avoid COVID, stating that they are some of the few that stick to wearing masks in all buildings and appreciating mask mandates now that it’s so cold.

We spoke on the similar struggles of being freshman entirely online and trying to make friends in a COVID safe way. The girls did, however, recognize and appreciate the friendships that they created with one another as they lived in the same building last year, and hope that as the world adapts to COVID, there will be more COVID friendly events in the near future to meet new people and make new friends.