Prologue

I went to Poland in April of 1995 on the March of the Living Tour.

My intention was not to have an exhibition but to have photographs for my own use. I took along several cameras including black and white film, being the photographic medium of the time.

There are a number of photographs that are out of focus for which I do not apologize, as it was difficult to focus through my tears.

There were many pictures that I did not take like the barrack that was full of shoes that as I walked in I choked on the smell after 55 years, the barrack that was full of suitcases and the barrack that was full of children's toothbrushes and personal effects.

These photographs are scanned from contacts. The exhibition photos were professionally done (some were redone a number of times) to get certain effects accentuated like darks darker and lights lighter and to try and create moods.

These effects are not possible to produce on the computer monitor.

The exhibition was held at the Albow Centre Cape Town , South Africa in April 1996 ,was 13m long and 2,7m high, and the background was painted black. I tried to create a feeling of the viewer being overwhelmed by the blackness and size and drawn in to the beauty and by the deception.

The idea is, that each picture is in the order that the person who went into the camp, walked and saw what I saw. As you look at each picture try and imagine yourself walking through this camp not knowing what to expect next and in great conflict. The conflict being that as you entered the camp, there was a sign that said "Arbeid Macht Frei" (Work Makes You Free) and these bureaucrats, in and out of uniform, who are only doing their job and carrying out their orders, (which was to process your death) who view you as the scum of the earth, demanding your number(your name is irrelevant) etc. and recording this in a tome. (How much has changed?)

While on the trip I asked many questions:Why? What is the same now as was then?What is different now?What makes the situation now that something like this cannot happen again? I have not yet found the answers.The level of deception, distortions, myths, the coverups ,the spin ,deception by omission and outright lies by the government, the media, corporations, organized religion, the scientific establishment, and others who want to keep the truth from us,is something that is so great the public has no clue as to what is really going on at any given time.

"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State."
- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels

He Believed, was written in April 2000 to try and get some clue as to what my Grandfather may have thought at each year and to try and put an age to ourselves and those people who are dear to us who do things that we really do not understand why they do what they do and think what they think, when he only did what he felt to be right, only to be wrong!

"The condition upon which God has given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break , servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt." John Philpott Curran 1750- 1817

I want to thank my family for their continuous support, Grant and Anthony and Gary who have made this presentation possible.

Mike Kaufmann