SURVIVOR CAMERA

AIRED: Season 4, Episode 7
THE DETECTIVE: Wes Cowan
THE PLACE: Boynton Beach, Florida

THE CASE:

A woman in Boynton Beach, Florida has an antique camera she inherited from her uncle, a Polish Jew who survived the Holocaust.

The uncle stayed behind when his family members left Poland in the 1920’s. His niece wants to know which of two conflicting family stories is true: did Uncle Adolf survive the Holocaust by going into hiding with the help of his gentile girlfriend, or did he take photographs for the Nazis with this camera? Or is there another reason for his miraculous survival?

During World War II, some Jewish photographers faced the horrific dilemma of working with the Nazis in documenting their atrocities or going to the death camps.

History Detectives will be in New York to investigate how Adolf Fingrut kept one step ahead of death.

 

More Leads
The Spira Collection
See pictures of vintage cameras which chart the history of photography.