Memorial to the victims of the Holocaust
Why is it important? The answer to this question is on the surface: so that it never happens again. But if we take a broader look at world history, the Holocaust is one of the worst examples of genocide with catastrophic consequences.
For over 30 years, the Jewish Community of Dnieper has been searching for the names and creating lists of Jews who perished during the Nazi occupation in order to one day immortalize the memory of these innocently murdered people.
Until 1941, the city had a Jewish population of 90 to 100 thousand. During the Nazi occupation of 1941-1943, from 17 to 21 thousand Jews of the city were exterminated. On May 7, 1943, according to the documents of the German administration in Dnepropetrovsk, not a single Jew remained.
In terms of the scale of the massacres, the above-mentioned eventsThese events are comparable to the execution of Jews in Babi Yar, where more than 33,000 people were killed on September 29-30, 1941. In particular, if we take into account the proportional ratio of the total population of the Dnieper compared to Kiev, we can consider Krasnopovstanskaya (long) gully as the Dnieper “Babi Yar” in the modern Babi Yar Park named after Kiev. Nauki Avenue.
The purpose of erecting a memorial complex on this site is to inform modern citizens, citizens of Ukraine and foreign visitors how one of the bloodiest catastrophes of European history – the Holocaust – touched our city.
The author of the project Alexander Sorin divided the complex into two levels vertically – the upper and the lower site. This division is due to the terrain itself. The upper part, the memorial site, is raised above the lower level of the complex.
It is flanked by a low wall with inscriptions in five languages “We Remember…” (Ukrainian, Hebrew, English, Yiddish and Russian) and niches for Candles of Remembrance.
On this platform, two staircase beams, different in size, seem to grow out of the recess. In perspective, they narrow and suddenly break off. These are symbolic steps to the sky, which were used by the elderly, adults and children – the road to eternity.
Between these stairs are the Stars of David, riddled with bullets.
The upper platform is girded with a ribbon symbolizing the girdle of Tefillin, a sacred attribute of the Jewish faith.
On the lower platform, located on the site of the shootings, the memorial pylons stand in a semicircle. A staircase leads to them from both sides. “Pylons” in Greek means gate, entrance. It is a symbolic entrance to the territory of memory.
On each pylon there is a recess with the names of the innocent victims who were shot. In total, there are eleven thousand of them. To date, about four thousand two hundred of them have been identified, but the search continues. And even if all the names are not identified, these cavities show the scale of the tragedy that took place here and demonstrate that the crime committed is not just a dry statistic, a faceless figure, but thousands of human destinies suddenly cut short.
The memorial pylons are placed on a gravel path contrasting with the green lawn of the site. In order to read the names, you have to get closer and step on the gravel. This surface, which, unlike hard pavement, crumbles and slips from underfoot, through physical sensations creates a corresponding emotional state, an awareness of the fragility of earthly existence, the vulnerability and fragility of human creation.
The memorial emotionally and symbolically reproduces the atmosphere of the terrible events that took place there. It should become an artistic symbol and a visual reminder that totalitarian ideology, xenophobia and inter-ethnic hatred lead to the loss of lives.
Places where the blood of innocents was shed en masse should be sacred to the living, for remembrance is one way to prevent violence.
