#Exhibit of the Month

The main parts of the camera include the body, bellows, lens, and viewfinder system. The body consists of two lacquered walnut wood frames, joined by a folding black textile bellows that allows the necessary extension for focusing. On the front panel is the Agfa anastigmat lens, mounted in a Compur-type shutter produced by F. Deckel in Munich. It features a foldable "brilliant" viewfinder for both portrait and landscape orientation. It uses glass photographic plates coated with a photographic emulsion, mounted in walnut wood holders, with a frame size of 9x12 cm.
The walnut wood model, considered the flagship "Agfa Isolar Luxus," was designed by the A.H. Rietzschel factory in Munich, acquired by AGFA in 1925, which continued producing this type of camera under its own name until the late 1920s.
The piece was restored by Mihail Culașco, Restoration Department of NMHM.
Brief History of the Camera
The history of the camera spans 200 years, evolving from the camera obscura to today's digital devices. Key milestones include: the first permanent photograph in 1826 by French physicist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, using a wooden box and a plate coated with bitumen of Judea; the invention of the first photographic process - daguerreotype - in 1839 by Frenchman Louis Daguerre, marking the official birth of photography; the invention of calotype, based on the negative/positive principle, by British physicist and chemist Fox Talbot; the invention of wet collodion plates by Englishman Frederick Scott Archer and dry glass plates by Richard Leach Maddox and John Huds Bennet; the introduction of flexible roll film and the launch of the first Kodak camera by American inventor George Eastman; the release of the first 35 mm film camera by German company "Leica"; the launch of the first instant camera "Polaroid," invented by American Edwin Land. Finally, starting in 1975, this path led to the digital photography revolution. Each successive step made cameras smaller and faster, significantly improving image quality.
The first photographic studio in Chișinău was opened in 1854 by Eduard Glewski, and before World War I, there were already about 100 photography studios in Bessarabia.
The collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova includes over 30 cameras, made in Austria, Germany, France, USSR, Japan, and China, dating from the late 19th century to the 2000s. Among them are folding bellows cameras, BOX-type cameras, single-lens reflex (SLR) and twin-lens reflex (TLR) cameras, as well as digital (DSLR) cameras.

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Exhibitions

"Righteous of the World from Moldova, Germany, USA and Japan"

January 25-31, 2021

Annually on January 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day is celebrated. This date is a reminder of the tragic events in the history of the Jewish people, as well as a tribute of respect and memory to the Righteous Among the Nations.

This year marks the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Jewish Cultural Center KEDEM traditionally organizes commemorative events to convey to future generations the truth about the Holocaust and protect humanity from the horrors of xenophobia, racism and extremism.

In connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2021 will be held ONLINE. JCC KEDEM will hold a live broadcast and present the information exhibition "Righteous of the World of Moldova, Germany, USA and Japan", prepared within the project "Inmortal Deeds - Eternal memory" with the support of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova and organized at the National Museum of History of Moldova.

The exhibition will tell the story of people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Nazi occupation of Europe. They are called the Righteous Among the Nations. This honorary title was awarded to a person for saving even one Jew from execution or deportation to death camps. In total, more than 26 thousand people from 51 countries have been awarded this title.

The JCC KEDEM will present the stories of more than 26 righteous people of the world who managed to save hundreds, thousands of Jews from death. These are the stories of soldiers who violated the direct orders of their commanders; poor peasants who hid their Jewish neighbors in basements and wells; priests who helped Jewish refugees cross borders and hide from their persecutors; whole families who took up Jewish children left without parents.

Materials for the exhibition were provided by the Yad Vashem National Memorial (Israel).

The live broadcast and online opening of the exhibition will take place on January 26 at 17:00 on social networks and on the official website of the JCC KEDEM. The event will be addressed by the President of the Republic of Moldova, Ms. Maia Sandu, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office, as well as the ambassadors of Germany, the USA and Japan.

The exhibition "Righteous of the World from Moldova, Germany, USA and Japan" will also be available to the general public. From January 25 to January 31, everyone will be able to get acquainted with the stories of the heroes in the National Museum of History of Moldova.

infoline: office@kedem.md