Curator’s Acknowledgments

My sincere gratitude goes to Ann Kirschner, Sala’s daughter, who first drew me into Sala’s story and trusted me to tell it. Throughout the planning process, Holocaust historians Debórah Dwork and Robert Jan van Pelt were a constant source of information on countless Holocaust-related topics; the exhibition text on labor camps was greatly informed by their essay in the companion volume.

Vintage maps from the Library’s Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division served as the basis for the exhibition’s maps of Sala’s Europe and Sala’s labor camps; thanks to Alice Hudson and Matt Knutzen for their assistance. The Slavic and Baltic Division allowed me to examine its remarkable collection of World War II materials, from which an Allied leaflet announcing the impending defeat of the Nazis was selected for presentation.

The exhibition was greatly enhanced by materials lent from the private collections of the Kirschner family, Jeffrey K. Cymbler, and Abraham Kremer. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the World Zaglembie Organization provided two photographs reproduced in the exhibition.

About the Curator

Jill Vexler is a freelance exhibition curator specializing in exhibitions about cultural history and identity, especially prewar Jewish life in Europe and aspects of the Holocaust experience. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California at Los Angeles.