Last Tuesday, April 18, 2023, people came out in droves for the dedication of the Holocaust sculpture in LeBauer Park. The focus is understandably on the four women and one child standing, waiting for their inevitable death courageously. However, just beyond the women is a bronze camera that represents the reason the women were immortalized together. A Nazi photographer was documenting, one photo at a time, the murder of a group of people hated for their religion. The above photo shows installation day with people interacting with "She Wouldn't Take Off Her Boots" through the lens of the Nazi photographer. The bronze camera is called "The Bear Witness Camera" and is placed there by the Manning Kaplan family "In honor of Congresswoman for leading the fight against antisemitism, racism, and injustice."
Notice all of the hands in this photo. The “photographer’s” left hand is visible through the camera lens. His right hand is holding the hand of another. The woman to the right is clinging to her mobility scooter with her hand. The dominant feature surrounding the camera is hands. Hands can be destructive and evil, as with the case of the Nazis, including the Nazi who would have been taking this photo. Also, hands can do so much good.
We join hands to connect with each other; we cook, eat, and create things with our hands; we support ourselves with with our hands; we pray with our hands; we welcome new life from the womb with our hands. Hands are such a window into our thoughts. The hands in this photo tell us that on this afternoon in April, the people of Greensboro were coming together, joining hands, to support people in pain and to hope to live in a world where we use our hands only for the best of deeds.
On a related topic- hands; the first place for writing in O. Henry Magazine is published in the current issue. The title is "What Are You Going To Do With Your Hands?" by McCabe Coolidge. Be prepared to shed a tear.
Happy Monday!
Most informative. Our local newspaper has had NOTHING on this important event which shouldn’t surprise us after all the downgrading it has done.
Posted by: Jane Mitchell | Monday, April 24, 2023 at 08:32 AM
That is thought provoking and somber.
Posted by: William Kendall | Tuesday, April 25, 2023 at 11:34 AM