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New England Holocaust
Memorial
1995, by Stanley Saitowitz
"Ilse,
a childhood friend of mine, once found a raspberry in the camp and
carried it in her pocket all day to present to me that night in a
leaf.
Imagine a world in which your entire possession is one raspberry and
you give it to a friend."
Gerda Weissman Klein
- Holocaust Survivor
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Designed by San Francisco architect Stanley Saitowitz, the
New England Holocaust Memorial is located in a small park near Faneuil
Hall. Its six luminescent 54 foot high glass towers, are lit from within
so they glow at night.
Once viewers are within their corridor they see each tower is inscribed
with the name of one of the six major Nazi death camps. Smoke rises from
floor gratings, which cover sparkling lights in placed objects.
Then looking up viewers see the walls of the towers are etched with a sequence
of numbers from 0000001 - 6,000,000, remembering the ghastly Nazi practice
of tattooing serial numbers on their victims. Six million Jews were killed
during the holocaust, as well a 5 million others, Gypsies, Poles, homosexuals
and the disabled.
As is true of nearly all public art, there was controversy around the memorial.
In the early stages it faced opposition from some area Jews who asserted
that Boston was not an appropriate place for such a memorial. Once constructed
it was broadly accepted, and became a respected site along Boston's Freedom
Trail.
On April 19th, 2001, Leo V. Felton and Erica Chase were arrested on charges
of counterfeiting. Upon searching their apartment, which had a Nazi flag
hanging in to window, Boston police discovered bomb making materials and
evidence suggesting the pair planned to blow up the New England Holocaust
Memorial as part of a plan to start a "racial holy war."
The memorial, attributed with stirring reverence of the past, was apparently
recognized as having such power that it that extremists would seek its destruction.
This tragic, chilling action demonstrates the need to tangibly build such
memories in to public spaces and their symbolic importance.
Take a Closer Look:
The New England Holocaust
Memorial web site
Architectural
photography of the Memorial by Britasmeida
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