In her exhibition, Susanne Taschner presents a complete work about the former Jewish quarter of Krakow. »Kazimierz – All the Past« – The past is the pivotal point and aid to understanding for her pictures. After the German invasion in 1939, the district inhabited by 70,000 religious but also politically active Jews was cordoned off and turned into a ghetto. Bitter resistance continued until the last residents were taken to extermination camps in 1943. After the war, around 3,000 of them returned to Krakow. But even now there are still numerous anti-Semitic campaigns and in 1968 most of the Krakow Jews leave the country, leaving only 300, mostly old people, behind.
Interview texts with the residents of Kazimierz, hung next to the photos, support the pictorial statements and make the work a reportage in the best sense of the word. The photos do not conceal the subjectivity of the photographer, who also finds aspects of her personality in them. Susanne Taschner’s pictures are the result of her intimate knowledge of people. After long conversations and visits, she also began to photograph her friends. This work took over a year, which also ensured people’s cooperation. Consequently, the first exhibition of the photos took place in a gallery improvised in a former synagogue room in Kazimierz.
from: FOTOHOF Info, issue 1/1982