How We Survive

Photographed for The Guardian as part of their series on people who have survived our greatest fears. Portraits of Holocaust survivor Maxwell Smart, 94 to go along with Chris Godfrey's article for The Guardian, published in May 2024 From Godfrey’s piece: “It took until just a few years ago for Smart to talk about the Holocaust. He was approached by the director Rebecca Snow, who was making a documentary about survivors called Cheating Hitler. She told him that of the 8,000 Jews who lived in Buczacz, fewer than 100 survived. “I am one of the 100 and I kept it a secret,” he says. “I should remember. I have to remember. I have to tell it to the world.” Smart took part in the documentary and began writing his memoir after its release. (Snow has also made a follow-up film, The Boy in the Woods, based on Smart’s experiences.) “It was horrible,” he says. “I relived every moment of the Holocaust. I see the killing, I see the murder, I see the hunger … I didn’t want to, but I think it has to be done. And it has to be told and told again. Not to be forgotten.”