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Holocaust Memorial           next>        

 

                   

The experience of the holocaust is expressed by testimonies, reflected light and a void. A sandstone tablet framed by a metal bench invites passersby a place to rest and reflect. Water flows across the tablet to the edges where it trails down 6 steps, symbolizing tears for 6 million victims. Through the water visitors may read testimonials by survivors. Therefore partial relief is offered in the illusion of heaven across the water, but that is punctured by a metal-lined void. The bottom of this void cannot be seen, so that visitors will reach their own conclusions about its meaning. Some will see a book shot by a bullet while others will see a recent genocide. Some will feel a present warning while others will leave with unanswered questions. At night the tablet luminescence glows with a phantom presence, just as the void devours all light.