Memory Passages

Holocaust Memorials in the United States and Germany

Natasha Goldman

• Publisher: Temple University Press
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781439914243, 9781439914236
• eBook ISBN: 9781439914250
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Art General
• Index: History

For decades, artists and architects have struggled to relate to the Holocaust in visual form, resulting in memorials that feature a diversity of aesthetic strategies. In Memory Passages, Natasha Goldman analyzes both previously-overlooked and internationally-recognized Holocaust memorials in the United States and Germany from the postwar period to the present, drawing on many historical documents for the first time. From the perspectives of visual culture and art history, the book examines changing attitudes toward the Holocaust and the artistic choices that respond to it.

The book introduces lesser-known sculptures, such as Nathan Rapoport's Monument to the Six Million Jewish Martyrs in Philadelphia, as well as internationally-acclaimed works, such as Peter Eisenman's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. Other artists examined include Will Lammert, Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, Gerson Fehrenbach, Margit Kahl, and Andy Goldsworthy.Archival documents and interviews with commissioners, survivors, and artists reveal the conversations and decisions that have shaped Holocaust memorials.

Memory Passages suggests that memorial designers challenge visitors to navigate and activate spaces to engage with history and memory by virtue of walking or meandering. This book will be valuable for anyone teaching—or seeking to better understand—the Holocaust.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Memory Passages
• 1. East and West Germany in the Postwar Years: Will Lammert and Gerson Fehrenbach
• 2. A Forgotten Memorial and Philadelphia’s Survivors: Nathan Rapoport’s Monument to the Six Million Jewish Martyrs (1964)
• 3. Monuments to Deported Jews in Hamburg (Hrdlicka, Rückriem, Kahl) and East Berlin (Lammert)
• 4. Memorial Functions: Shapiro, Kelly, LeWitt, and Serra at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (1993)
• 5. Walking through Stelae: Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (2005)
• Conclusion: Andy Goldsworthy; Nature and Memory at the New York Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index