Dan Wyman, Books
47 Dartmouth St. Springfield, MA 01109
ph: 413.846.6357 e-fax: 208.567.8926
Dan@DanWymanBooks.com
www.danwymanbooks.com
We Find Good Homes for Nice Jewish Books

COLLECTION OF 27 OUTSTANDING PHOTOS OF
PRE-WAR JEWISH PRAGUE & TRANSCARPATHIAN UKRAINE

These photos were taken by an anonymous French-Jewish photographer on a visit to Prague & the Transcarpathian Ukraine in the 1930s. Several years ago, the photographer's cousin made one copy of the photos to keep for himself, donating the originals to a small library in Israel. He recently sold us his sole personal reproduction-set, along with the negatives used to make the reproductions (the original negatives had long since vanished). 

We have no further information on this talented photographer, nor the fate of the originals; We have been unable to find any reference to them anywhere. It is possible that they are accessible, somehow, somewhere, but we couldn't tell you how.

Instead, we offer this set of the 27 1st-generation copies, complete with the negatives used for their reproduction. Also included is a typed copy of the photographer's shorthand notes, identifying each photo.

All the photos in this wonderful collection are reproduced below (click on the thumbnail to see a larger version). We have branded each electronic scan with "DW" to protect the future buyer from unauthorized digital reproduction.

As you will note, a few are the standard shots which are part of every visitor's scrapbook, such as gravestones in the Old Jewish Cemetery--though even these show this photographer's eye for light and shadow.

Others are nice architectural shots making use of contrasts in interesting ways.

But what make these documents of 1930s Jewish East-Central Europe really special are the photos of the poor Jews who lived there--the porters, the rag sellers, the housewives, and the children.

For pricing and additional information, please contact us at the address above.

Special thanks to Dr. Zvi Gitelman for his help identifying the region shown in the non-Prague photos.