Img. ID: 444493

Memorial name

Jan Zwartendijk Monument, or "The Corner"

Who is Commemorated?

Jan Zwartendijk, a Dutch consul, Righteous Among the Nations

Description:

The monument is located at the northwestern side of the Holocaust Division of the State Jewish Museum, not far from the Chiune Sugihara Monument. 

The monument, made of dark polished granite, takes the form of three sides of a cube. According to the sculptor, the cube is a metaphor for human existence: “When something pushes into a corner, something creates a corner” (Marcišauskytė-Jurašienė 2014, 275).

On the western side of the monument, three low stones bear identical inscriptions in Yiddish, Lithuanian, and English.

Inscriptions:

In Yiddish:

דער האלאנדישער דיפלאמאט
יאן זווארטענדייק (1896 – 1976)
האט אין די יארן
פון דער צווייטער וועלט-מלחמה
געראטעוועט פון טויט טויזנטער יידן

In Lithuanian: 

Olandų diplomatas
Janas Zwartendijkas
(1896-1976) Antrojo
pasaulinio karo metais
išgelbėjo nuo mirties
tūkstančius žydų

In English:

The Dutch Ambassador
Jan Zwartendijk
(1896-1976) rescued
thousands of Jews
during WWII

Commissioned by:

The State Jewish Museum (?)