FIFTY YEARS after the liberation of Auschwitz, the imperative
to remember those who perished during the Holocaust, and those who survived, and those who liberated, and those who would
not believe, and those who stood by, remains. For a few short more years, we remain privileged to be among persons who were
actually there. Their memories are impossible to deny. Soon only the abstractnes of history will remain and the tempting prospect
of forgetfulness.
On a site near Boston City
Hall and adjoining our Freedom Trail a memorial to the Shoah will be realized. Some find this initiative odd; mixing the "cradle
of American liberty" with memories of the bureaucratic anniihilation of "undesirables" far away and long ago.
Why not in a sober dignified location, one's intuition asks? Are there not already significant memorials and museums in the
heart of our nations's capital as well as Israel's capital? Will they not suffice?
For whom and for what purpose is this particular memorial being built? Those who lost their
freedom and ultimately their lives cannot ask for one. Those who survived require no aids for their indelible memories. It is for those of us who were not there that demand such a memorial, and our descendants will depend
on it even more than we.
This
memorial is sited within view of several cherished symbols of national identity. It will not seek equal standing. The majority
of those who walk past in search of luck may choose not to stop, or explore, or even consider its purpose. It will stand silent
and accessible, and wait. Those who will stop, by accident or plan, will be rewarded. Where better than along a walk
dedicated to the common man's right to life, freedom, and happiness should one have an opportunity to pause and reflect on
the consequences of the absence of such rights. Will not the very existence of something called the New England Holocaust
Memorial resonate far?
It is precisely in this
unpremeditated power of justaposition---between the numbing expungement of common humanity and a place dedicated to its universality---
that will make this memorial unique, and makes the city of Boston so appropriate a host.
