Holocaust Memorial

The Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach commemorates the murder of millions of Jews during Nazi rule. The memorial sits at the symbolic address of 1933–1945 Meridian Avenue. At the entrance, visitors are greeted by a statue of a grieving mother with two children. Beyond it stretches a semicircular colonnade of pink Jerusalem stone, where documentary photographs and texts about the Holocaust are displayed on a black granite wall. These are supplemented with original quotations from the Nazi era and are shaded by a wooden trellis covered with white bougainvillea. At the end of the walkway, panels lay out the events of 1933 to 1945 in chronological tables. The path continues into a narrowing tunnel whose walls bear the names of the concentration camps. The tunnel opens onto a reflecting pool, where the central 13-meter-high (43-foot) bronze sculpture stands. It depicts an outstretched arm with an open hand; the forearm is modeled from around a hundred human figures and bears a prisoner number. An adjoining granite wall lists the names of the victims. The idea originated in 1984, and the memorial was dedicated in 1990 with a speech by Elie Wiesel.