Obj. ID: 52782
Memorials Chrzanów Victims Monument in the Southern Tel Aviv (Holon, Bat Yam) Cemetery, Israel, 1981
Memorial Name:
No official name
Who is Commemorated?
The Jews of Chrzanów, Poland, who perished in the Holocaust.
Description:
The memorial is located in the Western Alley of the cemetery in Holon, along with dozens of other Holocaust memorials built by Landsmannschaft organizations, survivors, and family members.
The memorial consists of a reddish granite upright slab mounted on a white three-step base and sided by two black granite walls inscribed with victims' names. The black granite walls are set on white bases with holders for memorial candles.
On either side of the central slab, there are two low stone pillars with Hebrew inscriptions topped by stone candles. According to the inscriptions, the left pillar contains the ashes of the killed Jews.
The central slab with the dedicatory inscription in memory of the Jews of Chrzanów is decorated in its upper part with a metal Menorah. To the bottom of the central slab, a black plaque is attached, According to the inscription on the frame, the plaque shows the Great synagogue. This image was made by the artist Mordechi Goldovsky in 1990, as inscribed. On either side of the plaque, there are two glass candle holders that are not part of the memorial and were added recently by visitors.
The black walls flanking the central slab were added later and do not appear in the photograph taken during the unveiling ceremony in 1981. The walls are inscribed with the names of victims in Hebrew. The names on the inner side appear alphabetically, while the names on the outer sides are inscribed not alphabetically and were probably added later. The central slab and side walls are connected by metal rods.
Behind the memorial, there is a replica of the six-branched menorah (in memory of the six million) designed by the artist Zohara Schatz in 1960 for Yad Vashem. This is not attached to the monument and it is not clear how it was used previously.
Inscription:
In Hebrew:
זכרון לקדושי
כשאנוב
שנספו בשנות השואה
תרצ"ט - תש"ד
הי"ד [השם יקום דמם]
והעליתי אתכם מקברותיכם עמי
והבאתי אתכם אל אדמת ישראל
יחזקאל
Translation: In memory of the martyrs/ of Chrzanów / who perished during the Holocaust/ 5699 - 5704 [1939-1944] /May God avenge their blood /And I will bring you up from your graves, my people And bring you to the land of Israel /Ezekiel [Ezekiel 37:12]
In Hebrew, On the left pillar:
פה
נטמן
אפר
קדושינו
Translation: Here lie the ashes of our Martyrs
In Hebrew, On the right pillar:
נר ה' נשמת אדם
Translation: The lamp of the Lord is the soul of man [Proverbs 20:27]
In Hebrew, At the top of the inner walls:
לזכר בתי אב ובני ביתם שנספו בשואה
ונפטרו מעיר כשאנוב והסביבה
יהיה זכרם ברוך
Translation: In memory of households and their residents who perished in the Holocaust/ from the town of Chrzanów and its surroundings/ May their memory be a blessing. [The inscription is followed by names of victims in Hebrew].
On the right metal section between the central slab and side walls, in Hebrew:
על אלה אני בוכיה
Translation: For these things I weep [Lamentations 1:16]
On the left metal section between the central slab and side walls, in Hebrew:
זכרם לא ימוש מלבנו לעד
Translation: Their memory will not be erased from our hearts forever
On the plaque with the depiction of a synagogue, in Hebrew:
בית הכנסת הגדול מהעיר כשאנוב
Translation: The Great Synagogue of the city Chrzanów
Commissioned by:
Chrzanow Landsmannschaft Organization, Israel [according to Ghetto Fighters House Archives website]
sub-set tree: 
Hebrew traditional formulas | God revenge their blood היד
Quote from Jewish sources | Bible | Prophets | Ezekiel 37:12
Quote from Jewish sources | Bible | Writings | Proverbs / Mishlei | Proverbs 20:27
Quote from Jewish sources | Bible | Writings | Lamentations | Lamentations 1:16 (For these things I weep / על אלה אני בוכיה)
Names | List of victims
|
base - 174 cm
wall - 200 cm x 110 cm, wall base - height - 42 cm
pillar - 118 cm
On the plaque with the image of the great synagogue, in Hebrew:
מרדכי גולדובסקי, 1990
Translation: Mordechai Goldovsky, 1990.
The memorial was unveiled on April 30, 1981. The photograph taken during the unveiling ceremony shows the reddish slab encircled with a low metal fence. In the following years, the walls with the names of killed Jews were added; the plaque with the depiction of the Great Synagogue was replaced with a new one, signed by the artist Mordechai Goldovsky, with the year 1990. Some changes were also made to the right pillar.
The same depiction of the Great Synagogue was published by the Chrzanow Organization as a postcard. [https://infocenters.co.il/gfh/multimedia/Photos/idea/64578.jpg].
"A memorial monument to the Jews of Chrzanow who perished in the Holocaust" Ghetto Fighters House Archives, https://www.infocenters.co.il/gfh/notebook_ext.asp?book=66846&lang=eng (accessed July 10, 2024)
For the image of the synagogue, see
Bochner, Mordecai, Chrzanów : the life and destruction of a Jewish shtetl (Roslyn Harbor, N.Y. : Solomon Gross, 1989), p. 167., https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yizkor-books/yzk-nybc313727/bochner-mordechai-chrzanow-the-life-and-destruction-of-a-jewish-shtetl (accessed November 20, 2024)