This photo that I decided to analyze depicts a young girl named “Tereska,” who grew up in a concentration camp. This photograph was taken in Poland in 1948, while she was living in a home for disturbed children post World War 2. Tereska was asked to draw a picture of “home” on the blackboard, and the result was this array of scribbles and lines. The photographer behind this picture was named David Seymour, a famous polish photojournalist who gained fame for this photo, as well as many others, in a series of post war photographs entitled “Children of Europe.” This chilling photo gives viewers a look into the type of trauma and lasting scars concentration camps left on their inhabitants.

The look of confusion on her face shows that she is incapable of grasping the true meaning of the word “home” because she never had one. The torture and chaos of life in the concentration camps was too much for any child to comprehend, which is why the only thing that she could think to draw was this endless void of lines. There are some theories that suggest the lines represent the barbed wires in the concentration camps as well. This photo is also on display at the War/Photography exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.

I chose this photo because I find the topic of the Holocaust to be one of the most interesting topics in history. Since millions of people were persecuted, I find it fascinating to learn about the individual stories of victims since they are all so different. I have personally visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. and have spoken with a concentration camp survivor, so I feel I have a personal connection to this subject matter. I obtained this photo through Google search engine from rarehistoricalphotos.com in JPG format. Although taken in the 1940’s, this photo still maintains a clear image that isn’t pixelated or blurry, similar to its original condition. All in all I find this image to be very powerful and reflective of the mental state of all Holocaust survivors.