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Obj. ID: 42203
Jewish Architecture
  Holocaust Memorial in Burlington, VT, USA, 2001

© Samuel D. Gruber, Photographer: Gruber, Samuel D., 2013

Who is Commemorated?

Jewish Victims of the Holocaust

Description

On a patch of the open yard to the right of the main entrance to the synagogue, a path leads to a Holocaust monument designed by Chaim Suchman and dedicated in 2001. The memorial consists of two related parts: a sculpted metal figure of a fiddler with a broken violin which faces a more didactic matzevah (gravstone) type monument with the word ZACHOR in Hebrew inscribed within an off-kilter Magen David. Below this is an inscribed map of Europe that shows the location of many major killing sites and includes a short dedicatory inscription, "In Sacred Memory of the Six Million."

Inscription

Inscription in Hebrew inside Magen David:

זכור

Translation: Remember

Inscription in English above the map:

 In Sacred Memory of the Six Million

The base is inscribed in English:

Holocaust Memorial
Dedicated by Ben Greenblott in loving memory of
His parents Ellis & Eanny Greenblott and family
2001

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

8 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Holocaust Memorial in Burlington, VT | Unknown
Object Detail
Freestanding, Figural
Monument Setting
Synagogue (active)
{"10":"Any immovable marker or memorial that specifically references the Holocaust."}
Date
2001
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Origin
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
United States of America (USA) | Vermont | Burlington, VT
| Ohavi Zedek Synagogue, 188 N Prospect St.
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Material / Technique
Welded steel
granite
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
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
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
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
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

The Burlington, Vermont Jewish community is mostly descended from Jews of Lithuania where the Jewish communities from which they emigrated at the turn of the 20th century were destroyed in the Holocaust. The synagogue memorial, however, does not focus on this specific history but is a more general commemoration of all Jewish victims (the Six Million) of the Shoah. The inscribed map on the matzevah-like stele only includes the killing site of Ponary (Vilnius) to represent Lithuania, when in fact Burlington's Jews came from the Kovna (Kaunus) region in the west, where tens of thousands of Jews were also murdered at the Ninth Fort and elsewhere.

Beginning in 2012 the congregation began a project to rescue and move a 1910 synagogue mural from the former Chai Adam Synagogue. This is now installed in the 1950s synagogue vestibule. The mural restoration has occasioned a much broader investigation of the community's history in Lithuania and Vermont. The mural serves as a memorial of both the murdered old-world communities and the history of the new-world immigrants. Interpretation and presentation of the mural are now integrated into Holocaust history programs and school curricula.

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

Gruber, Samuel. “USA: Holocaust Memorials in American Synagogues,” Samuel Gruber’s Jewish Art and Monuments, February 24, 2020., https://samgrubersjewishartmonuments.blogspot.com/2020/02/usa-holocaust-memorials-in-american_24.html (accessed December 13, 2021)

Gruber, Samuel. “USA: Ohavi Zedek Synagogue in Burlington - a Fine Modern Synagogue (and the First Ever Designed by a Woman?), Samuel Gruber’s Jewish Art and Monuments, December 20, 2013, https://samgrubersjewishartmonuments.blogspot.com/2013/12/usa-ohavi-zedek-synagogue-in-burlington.html (accessed December 13, 2021)
Type
Documenter
|
Author of description
Samuel D. Gruber | 2021
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
|
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed: