14 poignant pics of Holocaust survivors and 14 heart-wrenching notes to go with them.

Stark and brazen in the face of history, these faces shine out and remind the world of its darkest moment but also its brightest future.

 Michael Calcagno
04.24.17

"Survivor" is a photo series that tells the story of over 200 people who survived an important and painful episode in history.

Every person featured in the series is a survivor of the Holocaust. Each portrait is accompanied by a caption, written in their own handwriting. The messages range from feelings of unquenched anger, to peaceful resolution, to hope for the future.

Photographer Harry Borden, a seasoned celebrity photographer, started the project 10 years ago and spent five years traveling the globe to meet and photograph his subjects. He photographed the survivors in their own homes using natural light to create a sense of intimacy.

“I wanted to do something that would have a lasting ... impact,” Borden told ABC News Australia. The series is both incredibly moving and a way of preserving the voices of those who lived through one of the darkest moments in recent human history — voices that should not be forgotten.

1. Felix Fibich

"In my dancing I was trying to express a full range of human emotions from the joy of life to deep sorrow of pain and suffering of tragic life." Photo by Harry Borden.

2. Agi Muller

"As a Hungarian Jew, I ran from the Germans, I ran from the Soviets. I’ve stopped running. Beauty and love surround me!" Photo by Harry Borden.

3. Leon Jedwab

"I believe I’m the last Holocaust survivor out of the 70 or so Jewish families including my mother, sister and brother who lived in my birthplace of Zagórów in Poland. I still live with the nightmares." Photo by Harry Borden.

4. Mary Elias

"The last time I saw my parents was when we arrived at Auschwitz. My father came back to get his prayer book. He kissed us and said, 'We will never see each other again.'" Photo by Harry Borden.

5. Dan Vaintraub

"The day of my birth tells all the story. 10.11.1938." Photo by Harry Borden.

6. Lidia Vago

"In Limbo: In the black hole of our Planet Earth / Auschwitz / They drove me out / When it ceased to be; / Yet who will drive it out of me? / It still exists. / Only death will be my exorcist." Photo by Harry Borden.

7. Tuvia Lipson

"Little did I know that I would find the strength to survive those insufferable circumstances that are still far beyond human understanding. I am proud to say that I am here, but many of those who are part of our life are not. And so my heart silently weeps." Photo by Harry Borden.

8. Kitia Altmann

"At the end of the day, Holocaust was all about people!! Good people, bad people, and the ones who were indifferent. For me survival is an on-going process." Photo by Harry Borden.

9. Leon Rosenzweig

"The best time of my life is when I am with my family." Photo by Harry Borden.

10. Relli Robinson

"It is our moral and conscientious obligation of the survivors of The Holocaust, and of Jews all over the world, to carry the torch of remembrance of The Holocaust and The Heroism of this Human Earthquake in 'Cultural Europe' (1939–1945), from generation to generation, to those generations — when none of us — survivors of the flames of hell will be alive anymore." Photo by Harry Borden.

11. Janek (Yona) Fuchs

"Having today 3 children and 14 grandchildren, I think I won the war against Hitler!" Photo by Harry Borden.

12. Eve Kugler

"I am a child survivor. Those of us who survived were not more worthy than those who perished. Nor were we braver, richer, smarter or more resourceful. We were not. We were just luckier." Photo by Harry Borden.

13. John Balan

"As a hidden child I frequently lecture to children about my experiences. My great concern is who will continue to tell our stories when we’re gone in not too many years?" Photo by Harry Borden.

14. Mirjam Finkelstein

"I think of myself as a person, a wife and mother first and a survivor last." Photo by Harry Borden.

As each year passes, fewer and fewer survivors are left to share their stories.

Borden's book features portraits and written statements from 200 survivors, as well as biographies, preserving their stories forever.

Each photo and message is a reminder of our collective responsibility to never forget the horrors of the past, to honor those who did not survive, and to ensure this never happens again.

Watch the video below for a behind the scenes look at the making of the book:

history art world war ii books jews concentration camps survivors photographs holocaust remembrance
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Today, I'm a 35-year-old man with a flame shaved into my beard. If the '80s movies I love so much are any indication, this is a sure sign I'm going through some kind of existential crisis. Next week, when the semester starts and I begin teaching again, it will not be strange if my colleagues start to worry about me just a little. A sports car or a neck-jerking pivot to physical fitness — that's an understandable response to the realization that life is fleeting. But a large meticulous flame carved out of facial hair? What does one do with that?

At this moment, though, I'm showing my face proudly to a woman wearing a swimsuit with a taco cat on it. We have only recently met, but she's telling me that she's so into my "fade" that she wants to kiss it. Then she does, blowing a raspberry into my cheek so hard that her hat falls off. Neither of us can stop laughing.

"Live Mas!" she yells with the excitement of someone who's never had trouble fully seizing the moment.

"Live Mas!" I shout back without any irony. There is no irony here in Palm Springs, where, for four days only, hundreds of people celebrate their love for Taco Bell.

Here, there's only swimming and hot sauce-themed leisure wear, and the warm pleasant feeling that comes from eating too much and knowing that you're with your own people. Even if the only thing that connects you is a love for a fast food giant that feeds you when you're hammered and shameless at 2 a.m.

We drank the Baja Blast! My Taco Bell fade and my friend's specialty manicure!Mark Shrayber

What does it mean to Live Mas? This is a question I am forced to ask myself over and over during my 24-hour stay at "The Bell," where I have stowed away as a friend's plus-one. We are, of course, both politely pretending that I'm a full-on guest with all the perks that entails, but we also both know that I wouldn't be here eating unlimited quesadillas poolside without her.

So maybe that's the first thing Live Mas means: To build strong lifelong connections which you can, with some luck, exploit to your benefit. :) :) :)

But this is too cynical an interpretation, because everyone here is so happy. Happy that they've gotten a reservation; happy that they can cool off in a room themed after an iconic Mountain Dew Drink, and happy that they can share their own personal story of what Taco Bell means to them. (Though there's no formal essay contest — I've checked.)

Me: This room won't be that cool. Also me: OH MY GOD, THIS IS THE COOLEST ROOM I'VE EVER BEEN IN!!!Mark Shrayber

Snatches of this story float around the "Fire" pool, where all the entertainment is concentrated: One couple canceled their trip to Prague because "Prague will always be there" — a brave stance considering climate change; another met last year on Tinder after the girlfriend's Taco Bell senior photos went viral; at the opening ceremony on Thursday, where sauce packets were cut instead of a ribbon, a city official brought others to tears with both her Taco Bell fashion and a memory of how her parents would feed an entire family with 19-cent-tacos from the first-ever Taco Bell in Downey, California.

Oh, I forgot one: The guy who skipped out on Prague? He got a giant bell shaved into the side of his head, so he might have to miss out on a black-tie event happening later this week. But it's all good. Bring on the nacho fries.

I make fast friends with four women who are here for a bachelorette party, the bride overwhelmed with good vibes and prosecco. This year, for her 30th, she rented a party bus. Inside? $100 worth of Taco Bell that her fiancee was worried might not be consumed.

"But little did he know," she shouts in the hot tub where we're "cooling off" after a long day of 108-degree sunning, "we ate it all!"

A bachelorette party and a birthday! We're really living it up (but also staying hydrated.)Mark Shrayber

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There are, if you look at the The Bell from a literary perspective, many other writers who deserve this experience more than me. They could talk about the blue of the pool. Or the insouciance of youth. Draw parallels between marketing stunts such as this and the end-stage capitalism. Or envision a "Demolition Man" future where Taco Bell is fine dining and none of us know how to use the three shells in the bathroom to get ourselves clean.

And I wish these writers could be here to paint you these landscapes, but what you've got is me, a literal Taco Bell super-fan, and what I'm doing is eating and getting sunburned and taking a synchronized swimming class with the Aqualillies, who refer to themselves as "the world's most glamorous water ballet entertainment," but have very little idea of what to do with 10 eager recruits who can't stay afloat or on beat.


G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S!!Photo courtesy of Taco Bell.

"It's okay," one of the instructors comforts me just before the Tacolilies (the name of our "team") are invited to perform our watery version of "Senorita" — which was supposed to be two minutes long, then 1:15, and has now been judiciously cut down, due to talent, to about 45 seconds — in the bigger pool. "We regularly teach five-year-olds. And you're doing much better."

Usually, I would take offense at such blatant reads, but today I'm unbothered. I'll continue to be so right until I get home and discover that I've left all my electronics on United Flight 5223 (if anyone wants to get them back to me). And even then, I rage at myself for all of five seconds before checking that I've still got what's important: A certificate that says I did not drown while doing water ballet.

It's still there. As is my phone, which is blowing up with messages from people who took pictures of me in what Taco Bell calls its "power suit," and which is best described as "cult outfit, but kinda make it fashion." I bought my husband one, too, and I look forward to the argument we're going to have about holiday cards later.

This is "Live Mas."

I've never been so happy to match with someone else in my life. MaMark Shrayber

Or maybe it's the moment another stranger tells me that we'll be friends forever. Such friendships are forged quickly when you've got less than 24 hours to make lifelong connections and I'm pleased to get the full experience.

"We may never meet again," he says while we're swimming, "but we'll always have this time together."

Then we establish that he lives just across the park from me in San Francisco.

"Aw, man," he says, floating away to take pictures of the people he came with, "I've got lots of close friends I never see because they live across that damn park."

But the sentiment holds.

We Live Mas it on.

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