JUDEO-ALSACIAN MUSEUM
28 aout 2023
"THE MEMORY OF THE NATZWEILER CONCENTRATION CAMP AND ITS ATTACHED CAMPS".
A CROSS-BORDER PROJECT AROUND A UNKNOWN MEMORY.
Natzweiler: a network of more than 50 camps. The former Natzweiler concentration camp, located on the Struthof site, is well known to Alsatians. On the other hand, few people know that he controlled a network of more than 50 more or less large annex camps, distributed on both sides of the Rhine to the Belgian border. The first annex camp opened its doors in Obernai on December 15, 1942 with 200 resistant and political deportees. The annex camp of Schwindratzheim was mainly used for the exploitation of its quarries. The last created was that of Offenburg. In 1944-45, many Jews, women and men, were also sent to the annex camps of Natzweiler to work there for the benefit of the Nazi arms industry. They came mainly from Poland and Hungary.
“the gypsies, the other wandering people”
prepared by Jean-Claude Chojcan of the Ballade association.
Nomadic peoples have always been victims of rejection and exclusion. The Gypsies were kept in slavery for a long time in the Balkans, were victims of genocide during the Second World War, and today are still subject to very negative preconceptions. However, the representations of artists of this people with wandering roots, reflect our ambiguity and our attraction for the freedom which they symbolize, the journeys according to the wind, the symbiosis with nature, the celebration, a life far from the constraints of the society.
"The People of the Street".
A photographic exhibition by Roselyne Schmitt and Roland Freyburger.
Misery has no fixed abode. She also has no religion or skin color. Sadly universal it has struck indiscriminately throughout past and present history. This is why it has its place in the Judeo-Alsatian Museum, where it resonates strongly in minds and hearts, as a reminder and a warning for everyone, but also as a call for respect for our fellow human beings of all origins.
This exhibition is nothing other than the reverse side of the mirror of our society today.
Passionate about photography for many years, Roselyne and Roland tell the story of these young and old homeless people with whom they met. Fascinated and attracted by human beings, the photographer captures an expression at a given moment. An expressive look, sometimes smiling, often sad speaks volumes... Very quickly, when these People of the Street notice that we are interested in them, they reveal their backgrounds, tell their life in all simplicity and with a lot of 'humility. The purpose of this exhibition is to draw attention to their fate and raise awareness among those who look at these photos taken during the year 2015/2016 in Strasbourg and in the North of Alsace.
