Fragments of the lives and feelings experienced by members of Leicester’s Jewish and Polish communities are brought to light in this online exhibition through photographs they share with each other in an attempt to reconnect with their interrelated history and culture. Recovering Connections interweaves their visual impressions, reflections as well as individual and communal heritage, demonstrating the deep relationship between two communities who live in the same city but only rarely encounter one another.
My great-grandfather, Joe Pottok, was quite a character. As a tailor, he put his sewing skills to good use. They were clever little features – a secret pocket here; a clever seam there. He liked to entertain my dad with magic tricks he learned from a travelling circus that used to visit where the family lived in Poland. Even just before he died, he started to write short stories – in my photograph I’m reading some – two of which were broadcast on a local London radio station.
Recovering Connections 