The Holocaust is a tragedy of such magnitude
that it can be hard to comprehend how it affected individuals
About the Photographer
Photographer Evvy Eisen wanted to portray the Holocaust on a human level as a way to communicate its personal as well as historical significance. Evvy created the Multiply by Six Million Project to unify the three facets of her work - Survivor Research Archive, Exhibit and Film - and to make them accessible for viewing and research.
Evvy created portraits of over two hundred Holocaust Survivors in the United States and France and collected their personal narratives. Many had been subjected to multiple traumas and were the only survivor of their large families.
Evvy photographed each person in their home or a place they chose, encouraging them to include things which were meaningful to them in their portrait. She asked each person to look directly into the lens of her camera so that their eyes communicate directly with the viewer. Seeing their portraits and reading their moving testimonies presents survivors as individuals with unique thoughts and experiences instead of as nameless members of a massive group.
Evvy used black and white film, a medium format camera, and natural light. She did all darkroom work, creating individual, fine art silver gelatin prints. She was not compensated for her time, expertise or expenses and received only limited grant support for this work.
Evvy retains all copyrights to her photographs and texts. Her work has been exhibited in the US and Europe and is in the collections of the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the Mémorial de la Shoah.
Survivor Research Archive
The Survivor Research Archive is the full collection of portraits taken by Evvy Eisen paired with texts written by survivors specifically for this project. It includes the complete collection of portraits and survivors' texts organized by categories of each person's wartime experiences.
Because many survivors were subjected to multiple traumas it is only by reading their full narratives that the impact of the loss they and their families experienced can be understood.
Exhibit
This exhibit shows people caught in a dark web of hatred and bigotry. It reveals the power of human courage and creativity in the most desperate circumstances.
- Evvy Eisen
The Multiply by Six Million exhibit includes 38 portraits Evvy took of survivors paired with condensed versions of the texts each wrote for this project. It is available to view on this site and as an in-person traveling exhibit. Both are sponsored by Exhibit Envoy.
Film
This is important.
This is what happened to me and to my family.
It should not be forgotten
- Voices of Survivors Introducing Film
This short film combines Evvy's photographs and the voices of survivors recounting moving passages from their personal stories. It was premiered on the Sundance TV channel.
In the Words of Survivors
"When I spoke of the horrors that had taken place no one believed me. So, I found refuge in silence, I never mentioned it. But every night in my dreams, I went back to Auschwitz."
Gabriel Benichou
"We had to be counted in the courtyard every morning no matter how we felt, no matter what the weather, rain or cold or snow or wind. Sometimes the count lasted for hours until they got it right. But it could never be right because some of us had already died."
Leah Laskowski