Turkish artist colorizes photos from the Holocaust and the result is powerful

by Michael Sax
4.3K views

Photographs are very powerful tools for recording events and transmitting history. Yet older pictures are in black and white, lacking color. Have you ever wondered what they would look like in full color?

Photographs and the Holocaust

One of the most horrific events in all of human history is the Holocaust. Yet some events, like the astronomic number – six million Jews – murdered in the Holocaust, is difficult to comprehend. As such, having photographs enables us to visualize what happened. We can see their lives. And their fear. Sometimes, we can even see images of Nazi carnage.

But the pictures also protect us. That’s because they are not in color. Since they are in black and white, we are able to detach ourselves. We distance ourselves. But there is a way to get closer.

Color Photographs

Turkish artist Yusuf Tolga Ünker colorizes black and white photos from the Holocaust. He has a goal, and that is to make the past come alive. The color photographs make the people inside them seem more relevant to us. And the past does not seem so far away. This is important as we seek to understand the Holocaust and not merely treat it as something that happened in the past.

The color pictures also help us understand the reality of the Holocaust. As the images are in color, we feel closer to them and can relate to them. The color photos enable people to understand that the horrors of the Holocaust were real and led to the killing of millions of Jewish lives.

Take a few minutes to consider these color pictures. They are truly moving and force us to look at the Holocaust in a new light. Hopefully these images will help educate others. It is truly an important topic. Any way of making it more accessible to the public will help raise awareness.

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