Photos Against Forgetting: "Humans of October 7"
The Office of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Israel and the Office of the Commissioner of North Rhine-Westphalia for Combating Anti-Semitism supported the Jewish Community of Düsseldorf in bringing Israeli photographer Erez Kaganovitz to schools in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In the second week of September 2025, Kaganovitz, who was born in Haifa, visited eight schools in North Rhine-Westphalia with his project, "Humans of October 7." He is a journalist, photographer, and storyteller behind projects such as “Humans of Tel Aviv,” “Humans of Israel,” and “Humans of the Holocaust.” In October 2024, the Office of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in Israel brought Kaganovitz to the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament to commemorate the victims of Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel on the first anniversary of October 7, 2023, with his photo and story project “Humans of October 7.”
Erez Kaganovitz has visited the Meerbusch Comprehensive School, two vocational colleges (Max Weber and Robert Wetzlar UNESCO Project School), and five high schools (Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium, Gymnasium am Neandertal, Marie-Curie-Gymnasium Neuss, Leibniz-Gymnasium und Wim-Wenders-Gymnasium) in North Rhine-Westphalia. The event reached around 350 students of different educational levels and cultural backgrounds.
Erez Kaganovitz presented his photographic work "Humans of October 7" and shared stories of hope, courage, and resilience from both the Arab- and Jewish-Israeli communities. The young people listened attentively, asked questions, and engaged in conversation. These interactions provided an opportunity for the students to learn more about the current situation in Israel and gain insight into the feelings and experiences of the people there.
