The digital database, Holocaust Memorial Monuments has been launched as a partnership project of the Center for Jewish Art, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies/The George Feldenkreis Program in Judaic Studies, University of Miami, Florida; and the International Survey of Jewish Monuments, Syracuse, New York.
The new database – still in a developmental stage – has been created to collect and preserve digital documentation about Holocaust memorial monuments worldwide, including standardised mapping, photography, description, and historical research. It also includes a growing bibliography on Holocaust and memorial monuments. The database records searchable and comparative information for educational, public policy, and academic use.
The total number of Holocaust memorial monuments in the world is unknown, but the project team estimates that it may be above 10,000. The first stages of the project include, in addition to developing the database itself, research about and photography of a wide selection of different types of Holocaust memorial monuments in various places; compilation of a bibliography; and preparation of a master list of memorial monuments that will be further documented in years to come. The project is supported by an International Advisory Committee consisting of leading scholars.
The pandemic delayed much on-site research, but pilot survey projects were carried out in Croatia (2021) and Greece, South Carolina and three South Florida counties (2022). Documentation in Vilnius, Lithuania had started by the end of 2022*. Intensive work in Israel, Poland, Texas, and Long Island, New York, is planned to begin in 2023.
*Update March 2023: The expedition to Vilnius, Lithuania took place at the end of 2022. The report can be read by clicking here.