The survivors who 'didn't survive': Photographer captures Shoah psych patients

Gili Yaari, a Holocaust survivor’s son, did two stints documenting life at Sha’ar Menashe, a mental hospital where those whose lives were changed forever can find refuge

By Jessica Steinberg

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21 April 2020, 10:50 am

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Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

The Holocaust has always loomed large in the images captured by photographer Gili Yaari’s lens.

It’s his birthright, as a second-generation survivor.

“When you grow up in that kind of family, you really live it, and you understand at some point that this background isn’t totally normal,” said Yaari.

It was that emotional turmoil, the sense of the world as a dangerous place that has to be survived, that led Yaari to wrangle with his history in order to better understand it.

Left, 2020: A TV show plays in the hostel lobby. For the independent tenants, the television is a window into the world outside the hospital, to the life that has gone on without them.
Right, 2010: Arieh Bleier, then 80, born in Hungary and Julia Vodna, 80, born in Yugoslavia, developed a close friendship. They both passed away a few years ago (Courtesy Gili Yaari)

Yaari started delving into the lives of Holocaust survivors with his camera in 2010, when he spent six months documenting patients at northern Israel’s Sha’ar Menashe, a mental health hospital that has a department for Holocaust survivors.

“I realized there are people who are hospitalized for what happened to them, but there’s a fine line between those living a regular life and those who don’t,” he said.

Left, 2020: Romanian-born Israel Hershko, 94, breaks down in tears every time he repeats the story of his brother’s death in the war. Hershko came to the hostel with his wife who passed away two years ago.
Right, 2010: Michael Antoshevitz, then 70, born in Belarus, in the hostel yard. He passed away a few years ago (Courtesy Gili Yaari)

Now, ten years later, he returned to Sha’ar Menashe, to bear witness for those who were still alive, and to devote more time to the unfolding story.

“It’s a story that touches two points in time, ten years apart,” said Yaari. “It’s in the same place, with people who survived — but they didn’t really survive.”

Some of the patients have spent their lives in psychiatric hospitals, others lived regular lives and managed to integrate into society, but “just broke in the middle,” said Yaari.

Left, 2020: Efraim Kruzel, 80, sits in his fixed spot. Right, 2010: Efraim Kruzel, 70 at that time, at the hostel (Courtesy Gili Yaari)

There are faces who were new to Yaari in this second tour of the Sha’ar Menashe, who had functioned in society but required more assistance once they aged.

The hospital offers a supportive atmosphere, said Yaari, with psychiatric help and social workers, as well as many volunteers who create programming.

“The first time I photographed people there, it was for half a year and it was a way to deal with issues that came up for me,” he said. “When I finished, I put it behind me for a while. Now I felt like enough time had passed and I could go again and deal with it.”

Left, 2020: Jewish traditional ‘Gefilte Fish’ and wine are served on Shabbat Eve. Shabbat and Jewish holidays are always marked at the hostel.
Right, 2020: Golda Schwartz, 90, born in Romania, in the dining room (Courtesy Gili Yaari)

This latest collection includes 14 photos, as Yaari’s time at the hospital was cut short by the coronavirus, when the hospital closed its doors to all outsiders.