Obj. ID: 52422
  Memorials  Memorial to the Victims of the ghetto in Lviv, Ukraine, 1992

In 1988, the Lviv Regional Executive Committee adopted a plan for the erection of memorial signs in the Lviv region. It did not include Holocaust monuments. After that, The Sholem Aleichem Society of Jewish Culture in Lviv initiated the erection of the monument to the Victims of the Lviv ghetto. The authorities accepted the proposal but allocated an unsuitable plot behind the New Jewish cemetery, which was outside the boundaries of the ghetto. After discussions, members of the Sholem Aleichem Society of Jewish Culture in Lviv convinced the authority to erect the monument near the former ghetto entrance [Yakovleva].

The competition to design the monument was accompanied by numerous discussions. The author of the project was Luiza Shterenshtein, a sculptor from Jerusalem, and former resident of Lviv, together with her son Yoel Schmukler [Yakovleva].

The fundraising process for the monument proved to be complicated. Due to the inflation, the cost of the project increased sixfold during its implementation. The project was funded by the local authorities, Jewish community, many businesses, and Jewish Natives of Lviv in Israel and the USA [Yakovleva].

The City Art Council approved the project, and the special committee was created for the erection of the monument. Luiza Shterenshtein together with the local artists Myron Buhai, Borys Vovk, Ihor Kushlyk, Yurii Sikachevskyi, and Viktor Chyzhykov created the copper sculpture of the man. The unveiling ceremony took place on August 23, 1992 [Yakovleva]. 

The monument was vandalized three times (in 2012, 2013, and 2016) [Wikipedia, Lvivskyi portal]. 

The main commemoration dates of the monument are the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January, 27, and the Day of mass shootings at Babyn Yar (Kyiv) on September, 29 [Dukhovna velych Lvova, Lvivska raionna derzhavna administratsiia, zbruc.eu].