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Obj. ID: 42834
Jewish Funerary Art
  Holocaust Memorial in the Jewish Section of the Monumental Cemetery in Guayaquil, Ecuador, 1944

© Michele Migliori, Photographer: Migliori, Michele, 2020

Who is Commemorated?

Jewish victims of the Holocaust

Description

This monument was erected in 1943/44 or 1945, inside the Jewish section of the Monumental Municipal Cemetery of Guayaquil. The simple monument, made from stone, was erected by the city’s Jewish Community, which at the time was mainly composed of Jewish refugees who fled Europe since the first half of the 1930s.

The round-top stele inscribed with Hebrew and Aramaic is decorated with the Tablets of the Law (featuring Roman numbers) surmounted by the Magen David. The stele is flanked by two kindled candles most probably symbolizing eternal light and put on the base inscribed in Spanish.

While the Hebrew/Aramaic inscription contains the date 5704 [1943/44], the Spanish inscription gives 1945. It seems that the monument was erected already in the course of WWII and updated with Spanish inscription after the victory.

Inscription

The inscription in Hebrew and Aramaic reads:

ת'נ'צ'ב'ה'
לזכרון אחינו שכאחד
נאספו [נספו] במות קדושים
חבל על דאבדין ולא משתכחין
התש''ד

Translation: May their souls be bound in the bundle of life. In memory of our brothers that died as martyrs. It is a pity for those who are gone and no longer to be found! [BT, Sanhedrin, 111a]. 5704 [1943/44]

The inscription in Spanish reads:

A los martires judios
cuya sangre forjo
el mas humano ideal:
la libertad.
MCMXLV

Translation: To the Jewish martyrs whose blood forged the most human ideal: freedom. MCMXLV [1945]

Commissioned by

Guayaquil Jewish Community

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

3 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Holocaust Memorial in the Jewish Section of the Monumental Municipal Cemetery in Guayaqui | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
1943/44
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Origin
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Ecuador | Guayaquil
| Jewish section of the Monumental Municipal cemetery
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Material / Technique
stone
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
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Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
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Pricking
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Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
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Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
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Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

Until 1906, the Ecuadorian Constitution declared Roman Catholicism as the only religion of the state. Therefore, in order to immigrate to the country and acquire citizenship, being Catholic was the main requisite. It was only after 1914, when the Panama Canal was inaugurated, that Ecuador began witnessing European immigration on a large scale. According to the government’s official data, only four Jewish families were living in Ecuador in 1904. Even in 1917, a total of only 14 people of the Jewish religion were known to be living in the country.

According to the Israeli historian Haim Avni, between 1933 and 1945, Ecuador hosted 3.200 European Jewish refugees, mostly coming from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Italy. 

It seems that the monument was erected already in 1943 or 1944 making it one of the earliest Holocaust memorials in the world.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

Migliori, Michele, "Ecuador: (European) Jewish Heritage in “an Unknown Country”," Jewish Heritage Europe. April 1, 2020, https://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/cemeteries/resources/essays-and-op-eds/ecuador/ (accessed January 6, 2022)
Type
Documenter
Michele Migliori | 2020
Author of description
Michele Migliori, Anna Berezin | 2022
Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
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Section Head
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Language Editor
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Donor
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Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed: