Part of my work on writing the review of Zdenek Tmej’s The Alphabet of Spiritual Emptiness involved reading the essay, because ideally, I’d like to know what I’m actually talking about. There was a reference to photographer Jindrich Marco who, I learned, had taken photographs all across Europe and Israel in the years immediately after the war. These photographs, I read, had been published in 1967 as Please Buy My New Song. I figured I might as well see whether I can find that book. (more)

So I looked around all over the web - or at least various parts, and I came across someone selling the book on Amazon.com, with the original dustcover missing, in “good” condition, for twenty five bucks. Of course, I had to buy it. I got it in the mail today. It’s spectacular.

The photographs were taken in Berlin, Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, London, Rome, and various cities in Israel, between 1945 and 1948. I took photos of some of the pages. The double spread with the huge pile of rubble, that’s what was left of the Warsaw Ghetto.

It’s a bleak book, and the bleakness would be hard to bear if it wasn’t for the rays of hope presented in between and then especially at the end, in the form of children playing amongst the ruins, or getting educated in a classroom in Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find more information about the photographer and the book online. If someone knows more or has a link I’d like to learn about it.