Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs (1964)

by Nathan Rapoport (1911 - 1987)

Photo James Abbott for the Association for Public Art

Title

Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs
Artist

Nathan Rapoport (1911 - 1987)
Year

1964
Location

16th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Medium

Bronze, on black granite base
Dimensions

Height 18′, width 6', depth 6' (base height 4’4 1/2″, width 7'6", depth 7')

Gift of the Association of Jewish New Americans to the City of Philadelphia

Owned by the City of Philadelphia

Museum Without Walls Audio

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At A Glance

An impassioned memorial to the victims of the Holocaust
Commissioned by the Association of Jewish New Americans, a group of several hundred families, many of whom had fled Europe in the wake of Hitler’s destruction
Dedicated at a solemn ceremony on April 26, 1964

In the flames of a burning bush, an anguished or dying mother reclines, and above her a wailing child throws out its arms. A man raises his hands in prayer, while another pair of hands holds the Torah scrolls. Near the top, fists clutch daggers, symbols of resistance. At the apex the flames become the blazing candles of a menorah.

Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs by artist Nathan Rapoport — Photo Alec Rogers © 2016 for the Association for Public Art

This impassioned memorial to the victims of the Holocaust was commissioned by the Association of Jewish New Americans, a group of several hundred families, many of whom had fled Europe in the wake of Hitler’s destruction. The group donated the monument to the city in 1964, in conjunction with the Federation of Jewish Agencies of Greater Philadelphia.

The monument was dedicated at a solemn ceremony on April 26, 1964. Although its theme is tragic and terrifying, the work conveys a sense of spiritual redemption, as indicated by the symbol of the burning bush through which God appears to Moses in Exodus 3:2: “behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”

Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).

Voices heard in the Museum Without Walls: AUDIO program: Edward “Eddie” Gastfriend is a Holocaust survivor and chaired the monument committee. Nina Wolmark is sculptor Nathan Rapoport’s daughter who lives in Normandy, France. James E. Young is the author of At Memory’s Edge: After-images of the Holocaust in Contemporary Art. | Segment Producer: Amanda Aronczyk