How many of you remember as a kid attending the home slide shows your parents put on for family, friends, and neighbors? If you’re a baby boomer like us, you’ll likely recall your father pulling the screen out of the front hall closet, extending the legs, and then unrolling the white screen to attach to the hook on the vertical arm. Then he unboxes the slide projector, places it on one of those small fold-up tables, and plugs it in. Next comes the multiple box trays with slides that have been carefully inserted into their slots in an order in which father wants to narrate. (The carousel slide tray was the next generation of new technology.) A test drive had to be performed before the guests arrive. The projector is turned on and carefully calibrated to ensure it is at the proper distance from the screen and in focus.

The 1950s family slide show. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

So, the screen show is all set, Mom has made the hors-d’œuvres (we call them appetizers since it’s easier to spell), and Dad has set up the bar. Now all that is needed are the guests. At the appointed hour, everyone arrives. After the chit-chat, Dad calls everyone to the living room. Everybody settles back, begins to knock down their third martini or whiskey sour, and lights up their favorite smoke. (Remember, back then, everyone smoked.) Dad turns on the projector with its familiar fan sound and exhaust fumes that compete with the smoke from the cigarettes and pipes. The first slide goes up on the screen and through the haze of smoke, the title of the evening’s entertainment is displayed:

Stew and Sandy’s Summer Vacation in Paris

So, kids, fill up your bowl with popcorn, settle into your favorite recliner, make sure your glass is full, and get ready for your slide show.

An ancient slide projector. Photo by anonymous (date unknown). RG-VC/iStockphoto.

Did You Know?

Did you know that the last living World War II Medal of Honor recipient died on 29 June 2022? Hershel “Woody” Williams (1923−2022) was ninety-eight when he passed away at the VA Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia. (The hospital was named for him.) Woody joined the Marines in 1943 and became a demolition operator. During the Battle of Iwo Jima, he volunteered to clear an area riddled by Japanese machine gun fire that hindered the advancement of troops. Read More Stew and Sandy’s Summer Vacation in Paris

For those of you who have read my books, you know the featured walks and stories are heavily dependent on images. The same goes for our bi-weekly blogs. So, over the years I have become quite familiar with and adept at using various sources to locate images.

I found there are only two options available to obtain images of Nazi concentration camps during the war. The first are the photos taken by the Germans who worked in the camps. These are relatively scarce as the Nazi leaders did not want any archival evidence of the atrocities they were committing. The second option are the inmate drawings and paintings done either while a prisoner or from a survivor’s memory.

As the Allied troops liberated the camps, Gen. Eisenhower ordered his photographic units to take pictures. One of his motivations was to ensure people could never deny these horrific events had taken place. Many of us are familiar with the photos of emaciated prisoners, stacks of bodies, and ovens that were still warm. These images can be found in the German Archives (Bundesarchiv), various Holocaust memorial museum archives, and government archives such as the Imperial War Museum, Smithsonian Museum, and the US National Archives.

Today’s blog will focus on the illustrations made by camp prisoners and survivors. Click here to watch Paintings from Terazín Concentration Camp. Read More KZ Illustrators: Haunted Art

Tag: MM Park