Obj. ID: 53619  Holocaust memorial in Beth David Synagogue in Greensboro, NC, USA, 1982

Name of Monument
no official name

What/Who is commemorated
Jewish Victims of the Holocaust

Description
The memorial monument is located in a large open entry lobby to the synagogue, set against a wall of windows. It was designed to be seen in the round, but its present position blocks one side, and one cannot walk around it.

The memorial is an artwork, designed as a truncated pentagonal column that tapers to a flat top. The lower part, roughly half the height, is a tall black pentagonal base. Set back and slightly rising from the base’s upper edge is a second pentagon that tapers as it rises. On the angled edge of the base on the side facing the lobby is a small metal plaque with a quote from Holocaust survivor Abba Kovner. There is no other text on the memorial.

On each rectangular side of the upper pentagon is a mosaic decoration of abstracted and attenuated figures, shown as silhouettes, The figures are without features, but they can be read as men, women, and children from their outlines. Four of the five adult figures are accented by a bright yellow star below the shoulder line, identifying them as Jews. The composition of each of the five panels is different but similar. Different colors of glass tesserae are used for each panel, with a primary background color, and a related but contrasting color for the body of the figure. The panels are linked by a single row of white tesserae that weaves from panel to panel and is punctuated by little “starbursts,” which represent the barbs on this strand of barbed wire.

A plaque on a nearby wall identified the memorial as a gift of the synagogue Men’s Club.

Inscriptions
Metal plaque attached to the memorial:

TO REMEMBER THE PAST

TO LIVE THE PRESENT

TO TRUST THE FUTURE

   ABBA KOVNER

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR

 Plaque on a nearby wall:

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL

DONATED BY

BETH DAVID MEN’S CLUB

Commissioned by

Beth David Men’s Club