Holocaust survivor and acclaimed photographer Dorothy Bohm dies at 98

Holocaust survivor and celebrated photographer Dorothy Baum has died at the age of 98.

Born Dorothea Israelit in Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia) in 1924, her father moved the family to Lithuania in 1932.

Following the Nazi occupation in 1939, Dorothy was sent to England in June of that year. She was fourteen years old and it would be over two decades before she would see her parents and sister again.

“My father was one of those who believed in anything new and so in the 1930s he was using a Leica,” she recalled in an interview with The Telegraph. “And when I was shipped off to England because Hitler had come, and life had become impossible, saying goodbye to me he took off his Leica and gave it to me. It was strange. He said: ‘It might be useful to you’. ”

At the end of the war, at the age of 21, she opened a photography studio in Manchester.  By the late 1950’s, she had developed a passion for street photography.

London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts hosted her first exhibition, ‘People at Peace’, in 1969. Her first book, ‘A World Observed’ was published the following year.

She was deeply involved in the founding of The Photographers’ Gallery in the early 1970s and elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society in 2009.

Michael Newman, CEO, The Association of Jewish Refugees, (AJR) told Jewish News: “We were deeply saddened to hear of Dorothy’s passing and send our sincerest condolences to her family. Dorothy was a distinguished photographer who made a huge contribution to the cultural life of this country. As well as her remarkable collections, she leaves a rich legacy. The AJR is honoured to have captured Dorothy’s story as part of our AJR Refugee Voices archive, which will be featured as part of International Forum on Holocaust Testimonies next month.”