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Monday, September 30, 2019

The Holocaust Memorial for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

The Holocaust Memorial for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
The Holocaust Memorial for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a beautiful memorial that sits right along the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. You'll find it located in Riverfront Park near Verbeke Street, while driving along North Front Street.

It was designed by David Ascalon and was commissioned by a committee of Holocaust survivors in 1992 representing the Jewish Community Center of Harrisburg. The cost of the memorial was approximately $200,000 and was dedicated in 1994. An annual Yom Hashoah observance is held here every year.

On the site you'll find the official historical marker that gives you a lot of information. Here's what the information plaque says.
The Holocaust Memorial for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

This memorial to the Holocaust, once a dream for survivors who settled in this community, became a reality in 1994 and was rededicated in 2007.

The monument represents a spiritual reminder of the darkest chapter of history, when Hitler perpetrated a systematic state persecution and murder of six million Jewish women, men and children and of five million other victims deemed undesirable. It describes the toll of unleashed discrimination and the resilience of the human spirit in moments of extreme crisis.

The central focus of the memorial is the pillar, forged in steel and representative of the strength and continuity of the Jewish people. Barbed wire, symbolic of the many atrocities committed against the Jewish people, twists up the pillar. The pillar rises to the sky beyond the barbed wire, indicating that the Jewish people have moved beyond the persecutions and continues to survive. the floor of the monument is crafted from Jerusalem stone and is illustrative of the strong link between the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

An educational component, including names of death camps and the words “remember” translated in 14 languages, is found in wording written by Holocaust survivors and etched on the marble wall surrounding the monument.

The memorial is not a gravestone but a means to educate about hatred and bigotry, so people never again commit such atrocities. It is our home that it will be a beacon against hate, an honor to those no one cared for, and a reminder to future generations, “Never Again.”

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