Henryk Ross was a Jewish Photographer who survived the Lodz Ghetto. He risked his life every time he took a photo recording life in Poland during the war years. He was originally a photographer and writer for news and sports. The Nazi Party hired him against his will to be their propaganda photographer.
To take revenge against them, between shots on the job he risked his life shooting pictures documenting the horrors he saw inside the ghetto walls. He also recorded Jewish life, even happy occasions like a boy smiling, a Jewish wedding or a mother kissing her son before that whole existence was cut down.
In 1944 the Germans wiped out the Lodz Ghetto and the danger was great. Henryk buried his negatives deep in the ground next to his house to be able to find them easily. These also included his personal effects and documents. A year later in 1945 when the Russians liberated the ghetto Ross came back to get his box of negatives, silent witness to what took place in previous years that would make history. Half of the negatives survived.
These pictures are now on display in the Ontario Art Gallery in Toronto. Henryk himself died in Canada at age 81 in the year 1991.
See part of the display here:
