Calling the victims by their names

The 102,000 stones of the Holocaust Names Monument in Amsterdam bear the names of the Dutch victims who were deported and murdered during the German occupation in the Second World War.

More than 100,000 people – Jews, Sinti and Roma – were deported by the German occupying forces in the Netherlands between 1942 and 1945 and subsequently murdered in their extermination camps. The fate of Anne Frank is exemplary of this unspeakable crime, the monstrosity of which is practically incomprehensible in its entirety. Since September, the Holocaust Name Monument in Amsterdam has commemorated the Dutch victims of deportation and murder.

The memorial was designed by Daniel Libeskind. It is located on Weesperstraat, in the center of the former Jodenbuurt, Amsterdam’s Jewish quarter. The Jewish Historical Museum and the famous Portuguese Synagogue are located in the immediate vicinity. The Holocaust Names Monument was created at the suggestion of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee and its chairman Jacques Grishaver. It took a total of five years to build. Last but not least, objections from the neighbors led to a one-year delay.

The Holocaust Names Monument aims to bring the victims of the Holocaust out of anonymity and immortalize their names in a clearly visible way. The memorial therefore consists of around 102,000 bricks, each of which bears the name of one of the deported and murdered. It took more than five months for a robotic arm to laser all the names into the bricks. The bricks themselves are also custom-made – specially created for the Holocaust Names Monument.

The bricks were used to create a labyrinth with a total of 72 walls, which was built with the greatest possible accuracy by a construction company that actually specializes in restoration work. It was a particular challenge to lay the name bricks precisely in alphabetical order. The walls support four large sculptural objects made of high-gloss stainless steel. These objects form letters of the Hebrew alphabet which, when read together, mean “in memory” or “in remembrance”. Although the steel letters appear to float above the walls, they have an enormous weight of their own. The brick walls have to support around 150 tons of weight on a total of 26 supports.

Ulrike Brandi was the lighting designer for the Holocaust Names Monument, while Rijnboutt Architects, who were also responsible for the overall coordination of the project, created the landscape architecture. Daniel Libeskind designed the Amsterdam memorial as a brick building for several reasons. Firstly, the number of victims, which is difficult to grasp, should be as vivid as possible. Secondly, the architect wanted to create a clear reference to the location. Last but not least, the design is also intended to recall the Jewish tradition of leaving a small stone when visiting a grave. For this reason, visitors to the Holocaust Name Monument can also place pebbles on a strip of basalt embedded in the ground.