Obj. ID: 44079 'Darkness, Grow the Morrow' Holocaust Memorial in Göteborg, Sweden (2009)
Memorial Name
Darkness, Grow the Morrow
Who is Comemmorated?
Victims of the Holocaust among the relatives of the members of the Jewish Community of Göteborg (Gothenburg)
Description
This memorial is one of a pair of monuments (the other being here) commemorating the Jewish victims of the Holocaust from Göteborg. Its most notable element is a bronze pillar, at the top of which is a green glass cone that is internally lit at all times, an eerie green eternal flame. It shines over a section of a train rail and seven pairs of bronze shoes, sized to be children's shoes.
At the base of the pillar are two inscriptions; one is the name of the memorial and what appears to be the artist's signature, and the other appears to be the insignia of the company that cast the piece.
On a cobblestone next to the memorial is a plaque with a QR code for more information.
Inscriptions
On the base of the pillar (Swedish)
mörker, väx morgondag
Kent Karlsson 2009
[transcriber's note, the signature's transcription is assumed based on artist's name]
Translation: darkness, grow the morrow / Kent Karlsson 2009
On the QR plaque
Swedish
Nyfken pa konstverket?
Scanna QR-koden eller läs mer pa
goteborgkonst.se/konstkartan
English
Curious about the artwork?
Scan the QR code or visit
goteborgkonst.se/artmap
Comissioned by
The Jewish Community of Göteborg
16 image(s)
Paint
Glass
Steel
The Jewish Community of Göteborg began plans for the creation of a Holocaust Memorial in the 1980s, intending to create a memorial listing the names of all the relatives of community members murdered in the Holocaust, but due to funding issues, the project was put on hold until the late 1990s. The Community partnered with Göran Johansson, then chairman of the municipal executive committee of the City of Göteborg to secure funding, on the condition that the monument be publicly available.
Due to concerns of vandalism to the list of victims' names, and the trauma that could cause to their relatives, the monument was split into two parts; one at Bastionplasten and the other at the synagogue.
Kent Karlsson, the artist of the piece and native of Göteborg, said about the piece:
The shoes and rail stand for the realistic and the bronze column for the living. I’ve cast the inside of some used shoes in order to make visible the form of the space inside each shoe—the space that is formed when the weight of the body presses out against the shell that surrounds the foot and makes it possible to leave a personal impression. The rail is an example of an object that is intended to be an aid and benefit to man, but could also fulfill the opposite purpose.
The memorial was unveiled in 2009 in a dedication that was accompanied by the blowing of a shofar.
"Mörker, väx morgondag" Göteborg Konst website (konstkartan), https://goteborgkonst.se/artwork/morker-vax-morgondag (accessed July 16, 2023)