Through My Eyes: Views from the Home Front to the Battle Front

Photographs by Phillip Drell

Comprised of 50 images, Through My Eyes will reveal a uniquely detailed glimpse into the period between 1942 and 1945 seen through the photographs of a Chicago soldier, Phillip Drell.  As a member of the U.S. Army’s elite Special Motion Picture Coverage Unit (SPECOU), Sgt. Drell documented and witnessed D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, the Liberation of Paris and the horrors of Dachau concentration camp.  Although a vast amount of still and motion film documentation from World War II exists, this collection of Phillip Drell’s black-and-white photographs is unique.  It reveals a comprehensive perspective through an ordinary soldier's experiences from before Army training to life at the War’s end.   Using his lens as our witness, these rare and important photographs lend the scenes a spontaneous, everyday view of wartime military life, punctuated with a wealth of detail. Interspersed with his commentary 61 years later and period artifacts, this exhibition will show the young man who optimistically faced one of history’s most violent upheavals and the mature adult who still remembers the horrors of the War and lessons learned.  

In conjunction with Through My Eyes, HMFI will host a series of programming endeavors that will not only bring the history of the Holocaust to light in a new way, but will also highlight and contextualize the consequences and lessons faced through the ramifications of war. 

Through My Eyes and its series of programming is made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly.

The exhibition will run from Jan. 25 through May 31, 2007.  

Through My Eyes: Views from the Home Front to the Battle Front

Exhibition Opening Reception

Please join us for a very special opening of the exhibition Through My Eyes, as Phillip Drell takes us through a photo journey of a rarely seen view of one of the 20th century’s greatest conflicts. The evening will feature a keynote by Drell, who will expand upon the photographs selected for the exhibition, and provide insight into his vast collection of wartime experiences and photographs.

Please RSVP for this event at 847-677-4640 or info@hmfi.org

Opening the Gates of Hell: American GI Liberators of Nazi Concentration Camps

A Panel Discussion

This two part program features a brief lecture by Holocaust historian, Dr. Elliot Lefkovitz contextualizing the personal experiences of American liberators within the broader historical framework of World War II and the Holocaust.

The second part of the program features local liberators - Abner Ganet, liberator of Buchenwald concentration camp, Howard Harwood, liberator of Dachau concentration camp, and Monty Nachman, liberator of Landsberg concentration camp, who will reflect on their experiences as soldiers on the battlefront, and as eyewitnesses to the Holocaust.

Please RSVP for this event at 847-677-4640 or info@hmfi.org

Armed with a Camera: The History of Wartime Photography

A Lecture by Richard Cahan

Join us for a special lecture by noted photojournalist and author Richard Cahan. Cahan worked as the picture editor for the Chicago Sun-Times, and served as the director of CITY 2000, a photo group assigned to make a record of what life was like in Chicago during the year 2000. He is the author and co-author of seven major books, including Richard Nickel's Chicago: Photographs of a Lost City, published in 2006.

Cahan will discuss the history and evolution of wartime photography, addressing images taking from the front lines of battle by photojournalists, and those take by the everyday soldier. From World War II to the war in Iraq, from the Gestapo and SS in the ghettos and camps, to those photos taken more recently by American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison, Cahan will provide a unique glimpse of some of history’s greatest conflicts seen through the lens of a camera.

Please RSVP for this event at 847-677-4640 or info@hmfi.org