Missing Images

Scarcely any images have been preserved of the mass migration from Europe to the New World which occurred between 1850 and 1940. Of course, photographs do exist concerning the lives of Jewish migrants prior to their departure (Roman Vishniac in the Eastern European shetls), as well as photographs taken on the arrival of those migrants at their destination (Jacob Riis in the Lower East Side of New York). However, images from the ports of embarcation are to be found only in connection with Antwerp's artist Eugeen Van Mieghem (1875- 1930) who, around 1900, produced moving works of art portraying the roughly 2.5 million people who emigrated to the United States and Canada on the Red Star Line. This book tells the story of "The Missing Images" that have been rediscovered internationally in recent years.