Holocaust Monument - Skokie, IL
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member adgorn
N 42° 01.547 W 087° 45.425
16T E 437325 N 4652915
Monument (statues with inscriptions) depicting a Jewish family during the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising, located on the Village Green in Skokie, IL.
Waymark Code: WMC19M
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 07/13/2011
Published By:Groundspeak Regular Member Math Teacher
Views: 10

From the Village website:

"Made of bronze and marble
Approximately 13 feet tall
Installed May, 1987

The Holocaust Monument was a gift to the Village of Skokie by the Sheerit Hapleitah of Metropolitan Chicago on behalf of the survivor community. The Monument was designed by Bert J. Gast; sculpted by Edward Chesney, a Detroit-based artist and the contractor was Fred Kornick of Kornick Monuments of Chicago. The Monument depicts a Jewish family during the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Skokie was selected as the site for the Monument because of its affiliation with Jewish causes throughout the years and because Skokie has been home to more than 7,000 Holocaust survivors. The Monument is located in the Village Green, located between Skokie Village Hall (5127 Oakton Street) and the Skokie Public Library (5215 Oakton Street)."

The plaque reads:
"This monument has been erected as a lasting memorial to all victims of Nazism and will remain in perpetuity as a reminder what hate can do to mankind, if decent people are not vigilant to forestall such a calamity in the future."

At the bottom of the statues is inscribed: "Thou shallt not kill."

Inscriptions on the stone base include the following:
>The Biblical verse Lamentations I:12 in Hebrew and English
>In honor of the ghetto fighters, the underground resistance and the
U.S. Armed Forces who helped defeat the scourge of Nazism.
> In memory of the six million Jews and all other victims who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
> Remember our martyrs annihilated in Auschwitz, Bergen Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau, Majdanek, Treblinka and all other concentration camps.

The Village Green also contains a number of abstract sculptures, which contrast the serious and somber nature of this memorial. Those sculptures are what first attracted my attention when I was passing the plaza. Then I saw the monument at the far end and wandered over. Another lady was finishing reading the plaque. The brilliant sunshine was a bit overwhelming - perhaps they should have placed it in a shaded spot. One side of the base mentions Dachau. Many years ago I visited there on a post grad school trip to Europe. It too was now very clean and sunny. Capturing such a terrible human tragedy in monuments is a challenge.

Skokie is also the site of the Illinois Holocaust Museum.
Physical Address:
Village Green
5127 Oakton Street
Skokie, IL USA


Date Dedicated: 05/31/1987

Supporting Website: [Web Link]

Memorial Type: Monument/Plaque

Fee/Donation: Not listed

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