Thursday, May 15, 2014

A Different Bit of History

For my series of photographs centering on the Jewish community of New York's Lower East Side, I visited Nathan Hilu who lives in a senior citizen facility in the neighborhood. Nathan was a part of the daily minyan that met every day at the Roumanian American Congregation on Rivington Street, and his artwork was on display there.

He was an American soldier at the end of World War II, and was assigned to be a security guard at the Nuremberg War Trials in 1945-46. Specifically, Nathan was one of the guards for Field Marshall Herman Goering. He had quite a few stories to tell during my two hour visit. His artwork has been displayed at many museums. Currently his drawings are part of the permanent collection of the Hebrew Union College in Manhattan, and the Queensboro Community College Holocaust Museum in Queens.

Nathan Hilu in 1994:



And in his studio apartment at the senior citizens facility: