Kurt Bruhn

For this project, I am working with three main sources of photographs:

Personal photos from victims' lives (when available), arrest mugshots, and concentration camp intake photos.

This portrait falls into the last category. In my work, I aim to bring these victims into clarity for a modern audience, adding color to the black-and-white originals to remind us that these were real people who you could imagine passing on the street today.

Kurt Bruhn was born in Königsberg, Bavaria, on December 20, 1913. He worked as a waiter before being arrested and sent to Auschwitz on November 27, 1941. His prisoner number, 23520, was tattooed onto him.

He survived 11 months before dying at just 28 years old. However, my research uncovered conflicting reports, one stating he perished in Auschwitz, another indicating he was transferred to Mauthausen two months later and may have died there instead.