1940s

Researching the 1940s reminds me why I was really hesitant about this project. Whatever information you are looking for - it is inevitable that you'll find very terrible images.

The Holocaust is a part of Israeli (or Jewish) history, but I think that for families of survivors (and the survivors themselves), it is something that still has a sort of presence even today (over or under the surface). It takes some emotional energy to deal with that.

But I'm glad I found a way to investigate people's behaviors from that time, without going into the most violent parts of the story (it would have been too difficult for me).

Here are some research images:

1. Cots

After almost giving up, I searched a website that has a record of all sorts of listed patents (of any product you can think of). So I chose a few cots where the mechanisms made sense to me, and scanned in my diagrams (and one photo from a different site).

2. Clothes (fashion)

For this I have 2 sources:

a. Magazine illustrations -

I found these images in a 1940s French fashion magazine ("Le Petit Écho de la Mode"). I'm assuming the general idea about fashion was the same in eastern Europe too.

b. Films

Professional costume designers have researched this decade already. These images are also in color (original photos aren't - so it's very useful).

For some reason I remembered 'The Pianist' as having really realistic costumes. It also a story (true story) that takes place in Warsaw, so the location is pretty close. Great film too.

3. City

Krakow was not damaged by bombings and such, as other places were in WW2. So photos of what it looks like today would be a good representation.

But here I found real photos from 1940 (from the web) and that gives me a lot more information.

This is of course outside the Ghetto.

- Almost no cars. I noticed a horse (lower left).

- 1 car far away
- Flags (in both photos).

I can always go back and research some more if I need specific information.