Fred Herzog in Vancouver in 2007The Globe and Mail
Globe Arts reporter Marsha Lederman was taken aback during an interview last year with renowned Vancouver photographer Fred Herzog when he referred to "the so-called Holocaust."
Lederman, the child of Holocaust survivors, was shocked to hear such a controversial statement from Herzog, who is admired in Canada and around the world for his colour street photography, which has focused on Vancouver.
Herzog, now 81, grew up in Germany during the rise of the Nazi party and emigrated to Canada in 1952 after both his parents had died.
Lederman, needing to know more, spoke with Herzog subsequently about his comment. Herzog, upon learning of Lederman's family history, retracted what he said. But he also gave Lederman a better understanding of what it was like to be a German war survivor, orphaned to Canada, and growing up with a pain that, as Lederman wrote in a piece in Saturday's Globe and Mail, "was not deemed valid in light of the atrocities of his countrymen and what others suffered; a young man who came to Canada and had to remain silent, but whose work speaks volumes."
Lederman will discuss the story, and Herzog's art, in a live chat on Monday, May 7, at 1 p.m. EST.