Obj. ID: 54670
Memorials Holocaust Memorial at the the State Scientific Library Building in Košice, Slovakia, 2014
Name of Monument
No official name
Who/What is commemorated?
401,439 Jews deported via Košice from war-time Hungary to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Description
An inscribed black granite plaque with gold lettering is affixed to the State Scientific Library Building. The plaque includes the Hebrew admonishment Zachor (Remember), a high relief in bronze of approximated twenty hands reaching out from behind bars, and below this a tri-lingual memorial inscription. The relief fills the top quarter of the plaque – it is designed as a triangle that widens across the plaque to the left. The top and bottom of the triangle at first appear to be train tracks, but a closer look reveals them to be parts of barred windows and from these, hands reach out. The hands are obviously those of desperate deportees locked in cattle cars (though most of those cars had no windows). The hands are bigger in size as the triangle widens, suggesting the train is moving away from the viewer.
Inscriptions
In Hebrew:
זכור
Translation: Remember
In Slovak:
NA PAMIATKU 401 439 ŽIDOV,
KTORÝCH OD 14. MÁJA DO 20. JÚLA 1944
PREVIEZLI V 137 TRANSPORTOCH
Z VTEDAJŠIEHO MAĎARSKA CEZ KOŠICE
DO VYHLADZOVACIEHO TÁBORA AUSCHWITZ-
-BIRKENAU. VĎAKA JUDr. MIKULÁŠOVI GAŠKOVI
A ŠTEFANOVI VRANČÍKOVI, KTORÍ V OHROZENÍ
SVOJHO ŽIVOTA ZAZNAMENALI O TOM
SVEDECTVO PRE BUDÚCNOSŤ.
Translation:
In Hungarian:
AZ 1944 MÁJUS 14. ÉS JÚLIUS 20. KÖZÖTT
KASSÁN ÁT 137 SZERELVÉNYBEN
AZ AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAUI HALÁLTÁBORBA
SZÁLLÍTOTT 401 439 MAGYARORSZÁGI ZSIDÓ
EMLÉKÉRE. KÖSZÖNET DR. GASKÓ MIKLÓSNAK
ÉS VRANCSÍK ISTVÁNNAK, AKIK ÉLETÜK
KOCKÁZTATÁSÁVAL FELJEGYEZTÉK ENNEK
TÉNYÉT AZ UTÓKOR SZÁMÁRA.
Translation:
In English:
IN MEMORY OF 401 439 JEWS DEPORTED
BETWEEN THE 14TH MAY AND 20TH JULY 1944
IN 137 TRANSPORTS VIA KOŠICE FROM WAR-
TIME HUNGARY TO THE AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU
EXTERMINATION CAMP. WITH THANKS TO
DR MIKULÁŠ GAŠKO AND ŠTEFAN VRANČÍK
WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES TO KEEP THIS
TESTIMONY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.
Commissioned by
Municipality of Kosice (?)
6 image(s)
sub-set tree:
Bronze
A black granite plaque was affixed to the State Scientific Library Building in May 2014 in a ceremony attended by Vice-Mayor of the city of Košice, Renáty Lenártová. This was the first public memorial to victims of the Holocaust erected in Košice. The unveiling of the memorial plaque was part of a two-day event, which included the presentation of Mikuláš Gaško's book which includes a previously unpublished accurate list of trains and the number of deported Jews, made by Štefan Varančík.
The memorial plaque commemorates the victims of the Hungarian transports. In the two months from May 14 to July 20, 1944, 137 transports from Hungary passed through Košice. 401,439 Jews, including 15,709 residents of Košice and its surroundings, were transported in cattle wagons. Attorneys Mikuláš Gašek and István Vrancsik risked their lives to preserve accurate records of transports from Košice.
Kačmárová, Lucia, “Nezabúdame,” [We Don’t Forget], Štátna vedecká knižnica v Košiciah website. January 27, 2022., https://www-svkk-sk.translate.goog/clanky/nezabudame.html?_x_tr_sl=sk&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc (accessed July 7, 2024)
"Košice,” Spolek pro vojenská pietní místa website., https://www-vets-cz.translate.goog/vpm/46111-pamatna-tabula-obetiam-holokaustu/?_x_tr_sl=sk&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc#46111-pamatna-tabula-obetiam-holokaustu (accessed July 7, 2024)
Šnajdárová, Linda, “Spomienka na obete holokaustu,” Mesto Košice website. May 23, 2022., https://www.kosice.sk/clanok/spomienka-na-obete-holokaustu (accessed July 7, 2024)