Life under the Nazis: images from a World War II ghetto.(Holocaust survivors)(Cover Story)

One photo shows a group of smiling children at a banquet table. In another, a couple looks happily at a newborn infant. In a third photograph, a young boy holds a furry teddy bear. Everyone looks content.

Esther Brunstein knows better. With a magnifying glass, the 76-year-old native of Poland searches other photos, hoping to spot a friend or a relative.

Finally, she stops at the face of a young child. A shadow of sadness creeps over her.

"You see, when I see the face of a child like this ... you know he did not survive," Brunstein told The New York Times.

Brunstein is not looking at a family photo album but at dozens of photographs taken during the Holocaust. The Holocaust refers …