The Finding Ivy exhibition tells the life stories of 13 British-born people murdered by the Nazi state in Germany and Austria between 1940 and 1941.
Their killings were part of the Aktion T4 programme, which murdered by gassing around 70,000 people who had physical or mental disabilities or some form of mental illness to “purify” the German race.
Some of these British-born victims were sons or daughters of German and Austrian immigrants who had moved to Britain in the early 20th century and later returned home. Others were from mixed Anglo-German or Anglo-Austrian marriages.
Dr Helen Atherton from the University of Leeds, who has previously outlined the project, named after Ivy Angerer (Community Living, autumn 2019) led the research team, of which I was a part.
It is now a year since the European launch of this bilingual exhibition at Hartheim Memorial Centre in Austria, the site of one of six Nazi killing centres, on Holocaust Memorial Day in January 2024.
The response to the exhibition (I am co-curator) in the 12 months since has been overwhelming.
Through generous donations, we have three sets of display panels, which has enabled us to run two exhibitions simultaneously in the UK and a third in Europe.
The exhibition has been displayed, often with accompanying events, in London, Leeds, Beverley, Coventry and Birmingham as well as at the Holocaust Centre North in Huddersfield. Abroad, it is at Salzburg University in Austria. This year will see it tour Germany and many more UK venues.
The public reaction has been enthusiastic – the exhibition in Leeds attracted 1,000 visitors – and press interest has been extensive.
Why is this? We think the life stories of the 13 people bring out their humanity and cause the public to empathise with them, making their fate all the more shocking.
They are no longer faceless, helpless victims.
Our display also describes how and why Aktion T4 came about, and draws lessons on attitudes to people with learning disabilities and others today – we hope it will have a lasting impact on public perceptions.
Visit the Schloss Hartheim website for more on Finding Ivy and future exhibitions
