Finalist
I photographed and documented life stories of Sudeten Germans in the Czech Republic who were persecuted as Nazi Germans after WWII. Many thousands were beaten, killed, raped. Millions of families were forced to leave the country where they were born. Their stories are vital because they counter the common narratives of WWII: they were German and yet victims. They lived outside of Germany. I am drawn to the underside of the big story—the stories of women, the stories of diaspora and ethnic cohabitation in particular. Even now many Czechs believe the Sudeten Germans got justice in their suffering, proof that it is when history seems simple that nuance is important.