The Holocaust Memorial, one of the most touching of its kind in the world.
The Holocaust Memorial was officially opened in 1990, with a ceremony attended by Elie Wiesel, the writer of Jewish origin who survived the Holocaust and whose strenuous defense of human rights earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
It’s difficult not to be moved by the writhing figures expressing their pain and torment, designed by the architect and sculptor Kenneth Treister with a number of intentions in mind: first, of course, to honor the memory of the victims, but at the same time, to comfort the survivors and ensure the genocide is never forgotten.
As you can see, the wall around the monument is built in pinkish-colored Jerusalem stone. A series of granite panels explain the main events that led to Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 and thereafter to the tragedy of World War II and the fall of the Führer.
As you reach the entrance to a corridor, you’ll notice the large Star of David, and that the light passing through it is blocked, in the center, by the word Jude, meaning Jewish in German and used with racist intent.
The tunnel is composed of stone walls broken up by blades of light; engraved above them are the names of the extermination camps. If you feel a growing sense of claustrophobia, don’t worry. The ceiling becomes gradually lower to convey the sense of loss of identity suffered by the Jews who were persecuted.
At this point, you’ll come out into a large, circular space closed off by a wall, right in the middle of a pond. Rising up powerfully from the ground in the center is a huge bronze forearm, with a number stamped on the hand, recalling those that were tattooed in the concentration camps; dozens of terrorized prisoners are seeking desperately to clamber up the forearm.
Let me leave you with an interesting fact: Miami Beach is one of the places in the USA with the largest Jewish population. Do you remember how many were killed in Europe because of Nazism? Six million. It’s a number we should never forget.
Language: English