Demolishing of Holocaust Memorials in Stockholm and New York - TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE MILLION JEWISH CHILDREN WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST and זכור - The memorials ruined and taken away by new Jewish generation in New York and Stockholm..

The memorial at Madison Avenue consisted of three panels on the façade of the education building of the Park Avenue Synagogue. It was dedicated to the fate of Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust, two lower panels, and the third, at the top, was dedicated to the founding of the State of Israel. This Holocaust Memorial was easily seen when approaching the building from 5th Avenue.

The memorial at Madison Avenue consisted of three panels on the façade of the education building of the Park Avenue Synagogue. It was dedicated to the fate of Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust, two lower panels, and the third, at the top, was dedicated to the founding of the State of Israel. This Holocaust Memorial was easily seen when approaching the building from 5th Avenue. The description TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE MILLION JEWISH CHILDREN WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST* is overpainted while the sign זכור (Remember) was left at Madison Avenue and is still present below the new window on the 3rd floor. Yes, I will always remember this crime by religious Jews of New York. Shame!

The memorial at Madison Avenue consisted of three panels on the façade of the education building of the Park Avenue Synagogue. It was dedicated to the fate of Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust, two lower panels, and the third, at the top, was dedicated to the founding of the State of Israel. This Holocaust Memorial was easily seen when approaching the building from 5th Avenue. The description TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE MILLION JEWISH CHILDREN WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST* and זכור (Remember) is no anymore present which makes two relief anonymous.

Relief sculpture, the lowest part of three to the memory of dr. Janusz Korczak and the Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust by Nathan Rapoport were until Covid pandemics displayed on the wall of Park Avenue synagogue at Madison Avenue. Now the Jewish congregation moved two of them away to 87 E Str.

Anya and Leon Jolson. Great couple of Holocaust survivors who throughout their entire life remembered their 6 000 000 brothers and sisters, Holocaust victims.

No windows were planned!

Demolishing of Holocaust Memorials in Stockholm and New York.
Earlier in 2020, I reported on the demolishing, desecration of the Holocaust Memorial in Stockholm*. Today's story is about similar actions in New York. The Monument in Stockholm was erected thanks to the Swedish Holocaust Memorial Association, SHMA while Monument in New York by Nathan Rapoport was created thanks to the couple Anya and Leon Jolson. Anya and Leon, both Holocaust survivors from Warszawa Ghetto are known for several similar creations in numerous countries, among others in Poland and in Israel. In Israel, thanks to their generosity there is at Yad Vashem Museum a replica of the Monument of Ghetto Fighters in Warszawa. The Monument in Warszawa was unveiled on April 19, 1948 (the fifth anniversary of the Ghetto Uprising). It was the first monument after the war to pay tribute to both Jewish resistance and annihilation. 

The memorial at Madison Avenue consisted of three panels on the façade of the education building of the Park Avenue Synagogue. It was dedicated to the fate of Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust, two lower panels, and the third, at the top, was dedicated to the founding of the State of Israel. It was easily seen when approaching the building from 5th Avenue.

Now, the memorial is ruined. The middle part with an important description 

TO THE 

SACRED MEMORY OF 

THE MILLION JEWISH CHILDREN 

WHO PERISHED IN THE 

HOLOCAUST* 

and זכור (Remember) is totally removed. Two bronze reliefs, earlier framed are without any descriptions placed in front of the windows at 87th Street which is much more narrow and shadowed than Madison Avenue.

So actually, also what was left after the original memorial, two figural bronze reliefs that moved to the front of office windows without any background or description are difficult to see. Reliefs are no longer free but fastened to heavy vertical and horizontal iron bars that further deteriorate the reliefs. Korczak and the Children bronze relief was meant to show "free children with their educator". Now they are imprisoned by the heavy iron bars. 

My very personal reflection when standing at 87th Street was that Janusz Korczak and the Orphanage children were put on the iron bars like the bodies for cremation in Treblinka. In Treblinka, railroad rails were laid as grates on blocks of concrete, and the victim's bodies were placed on rails over wood, splashed with petrol, and burned. The pyres operated 24 hours a day. Once the system had been perfected, 10,000–12,000 bodies at a time could be incinerated Actually my entire Warsaw family, approximately 100 persons, was murdered in Treblinka.

2 - the present place of two parts at 87 Street. The stone with - זכור („Remember”). was left on the facade at Madison Avenue. The fate of the 16 stones with the inscription in, the middle part of the Monument is unknown.

The original Memorial at Madison Avenue, its composition was meant by the sculptor Nathan Rapoport to be studied from bottom to top. From the Holocaust era to the rebuilding of Israel as a state. Therefore, the composition of the Monument includes all three panels and all three panels should be presented simultaneously, vertically as in Rapoport's project.  Also, the light stone background should be included.

The lower panel held a sculptured bronze relief showing Janusz Korczak surrounded by the children of his orphanage Dom Sierot as they went on August 5th, 1942 to their death at the Treblinka death camp. 
The central panel contained an inscription cut into the stones:

TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE MILLION JEWISH CHILDREN WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST 

The upper panel included a bronze relief sculpture of three Israelis—a young Halutz, a soldier, and an older man, who carry back to Israel the Menorah originally in the Temple of Jerusalem and removed and taken by Titus and the Romans during the destruction of Jerusalem. Above the figures, who march from right to left, are two winged figures blowing trumpets. The composition is to be seen in opposition to the famous relief from the Arch of Titus in Rome, Menorah (and Jews) returning home. Between the upper panel and the dedication, there appears in Hebrew the word זכור ("Remember!") —as a reminder to all who view the building that the catastrophic events depicted on these sculptures are not to be forgotten.

Richard Yaffe, a journalist and editor-in-chief of Israel Horizons magazine and also a special correspondent for CBS, spoke to sculptor Nathan Rapoport while the work was being created and reported on the conversation in his 1980 book Nathan Rapoport Sculptures and Monuments:

“Rapoport was hard at work on the finishing touches, the casting in bronze, of his latest project, for the entrance of the new school of the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City. Rapoport im­mediately saw the school as the perfect place for a memorial to Janusz Korczek. Luckily, Dr. Judah Nadich, the rabbi of the congregation, did not need any convincing to dedicate the school to this martyr and his schoolchildren, and to the million Jewish children who perished in the Holocaust.

"What I have done," Rapoport says, pointing to a sketch of the memorial, "is to symbolize the mar­tyrdom and redemption. You see the menorah com­ing back to Jerusalem from the Arch of Titus, which was put up in Rome to commemorate the defeat of the Jews and whose inscription says that Israel would not rise again. It is Titus' Rome that is in ruins, and it is Israel that has survived and is building."

Three people are carrying the menorah back to Jerusalem — a sabra (a native-born Israeli), the Israel Underground which liberated the country from the British, and the Zva Hagana Yisrael, or Zahal, the Israeli Army of Defense (now IDF). And the Angels of God proclaim the victory, "I brought back the menorah which is the symbol of redemption."”

So the cause of the desecration might be different. Stockholm Jewish congregation started to talk about the cost of the grass cutting while in New York the cause of demolishing is not known but it is likely that Park Avenue Synagogue wanted to have 3 extra rooms with a view of Madison Avenue.  In both cases, it is likely that the Memory of the Holocaust as a part of Jewish history and as well as part of the rebirth of Israel as an independent state is less important in comparison with former generations of Jews.

Statues and art installed in public places in the United States (the same type of protection actually exists in Europe), can fall under the protections of the Copyright Act. Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. An original work of authorship is a work that is independently created by a human author and possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity. A work is “fixed” when it is captured (either by or under the authority of an author) in a sufficiently permanent medium such that the work can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time. Copyright protection in the United States exists automatically from the moment the original work of authorship is fixed.

So the Holocaust Monument that was "fixed" by Nathan Rapoport in 1979 has this very strong copyright protection. This means the original work can not be removed or rearranged without the permission of the author. Park Avenue Synagogue, as I understand the law, had no right to demolish Rapoport's art. Placing parts of the Monument at 87th Street is therefore not legal. This has nothing to do with the ownership of the Monument itself or the building it has been placed on. Thus, especially as the Monument was built as a part of the building and no windows were planned there. 

The description of the Monument is rather clear as published during 1979-1980 in Park Avenue Synagogues' own Bulletin. Also, the stone of the building was chosen to fill the requirements for Monument. Thus, both as the background and the part of Jewish history as described by Nathan Rapoport.

Donation

The donation of the Monument was very clear. It was donated to be built directly (simultaneously with the house) at the entrance to the school and easily seen from Madison Avenue.  The joint aim of the Jewish congregation, the artist, and the donators was that the Monument to be easily visible (the reason to make it vertical and at the corner) on the broad Madison Avenue and be the first Holocaust monument in New York. The donators wanted the children to ask their parents about it as they entered the school so the parents could tell the story starting with Korczak, children, the Holocaust, and the rebirth of Israel. The entire project of the building and its plans were focused to show the Monument in the best way! Architects, the sculpturer Nathan Rapoport, and the donators were working together to fulfill the requirements for this so important project. Remembering that the Monument was incorporated "forever" in the building with its three panels placed in order starting with Korczak and children at the lowest level and two panels above it.  Therefore no windows were planned at the corner viewing Madison Street.

According to the law, the Monument can not be removed from its present location. It can not be divided or reinstalled in a different way as the artist, the donators, and the owners of the building agreed.

The Monument should be therefore promptly reinstalled, exactly in the way it was before. If not, the owners of the Monument and the donators or their children should agree and find a place where the Monument can be reinstalled in the way so it will fulfill the wish of the donators and the law that protects sculptures says that the artist work of this kind of can not be changed.  This protection, read the artist's copyright, do not expire even if the owners are "remodeling" the building or selling the house!

The present status of the two (of three) parts of the Monument at 87th Street can not be accepted!

We have to remember ( especially in the City of New York where UN headquarters are), that Janusz Korczak was the precursor of the fight for children's rights. He considered a child to be a human being of standard value from the moment of birth through successive stages of its life. Everyone has the right to be themselves. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion, or abilities.

Violation due to the dismantling, separation, and partial relocation
There are three important aspects of violation due to the dismantling, separation, and partial relocation of the monument's vital components:
1. Offensive alteration of the artwork itself with respect to the triptych's structure, composition, and placement of all three vital components in a niche with two bronze reliefs and the text part in between. The disassembly and separation of the monument's parts are a violation and unacceptable alteration of the work and its structure with the intended vertical placement in a niche. Furthermore, the work's composition has been violated by separating and repositioning two reliefs and removing totally the third, the important text part "TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE MILLION JEWISH CHILDREN WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST " that was carved out of 16 stone blocks in the middle niche. The fate of the 16 stone blocks is unknown. The work's content and message have been honored only in the original composition, the placement in a niche, the shape and size of the niche, and the interrelationship between the three constituent elements had decisive importance for the monument's content and message.
2. Infringement of Nathan Rapoport as a sculptor with exclusive copyright to his artwork with its unique and indivisible components.
3. Violation of donor Leon Jolson by breach of the donation condition, i.e. the purpose of placing the monument and exposing it in the purpose-built and intended niche above the entrance. The building and the monument were built simultaneously.

Barbara Blumenthal - TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE MILLION JEWISH CHILDREN WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST

Barbara Blumentahl, daughter of donors, told me that Park Synagogue representative contacted her some years ago about the "remodeling" of the building. She responded that the donation, read the contract, was subject to a very specific condition that the Monument was to be located above the entrance to the school, and if Synagogue can not fulfill this agreement, they should hire other, reasonable architects. After that, the contact with the Synagogue ended. I told Barbara Blumenthal that it's probably today's reality that the Synagogue would be more than happy to pass on a Monument they didn't like than to reinstall it after a costly process at court where the Synagogue will not just lose the case but also reputation. Therefore, one should find a new place for the Monument and using funds from Park Avenue Synagogue reinstall it. The installation has to be identical as the original Nathan Rapoport project, a triptych. The triptych can be free-standing in the park. I'm supposed to contact her after today's conversation with the attorney.
An international committee should be built to process the question of the future, reasonable placement. Such an international committee should include representatives from organizations like Ghetto Fighters and Yad Vashem in Israel, Jewish Heritage Museum in New York, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, and Warsaw Ghetto Museum in Poland. All this should be done TO THE SACRED MEMORY OF THE MILLION JEWISH CHILDREN WHO PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST as it was stated on the synagogue on Madison Street. Now gone!

I didn't fall asleep tonight until 5 AM and thereafter I slept only for 2 hours. Sleep is a very important dream, said Korczak, who studied it with children and at summer camps and in the Orphanage. There is a separate chapter and illustrations about this in my book.

Demolishing of Holocaust Memorial in Stockholm***

The demolishing of the Holocaust Monument "6 stones - 6 million" by Jewish Congregation in Stockholm took place exactly on the 75 anniversary of the first arrival of UNRRA White Boats to Stockholm with the Holocaust survivors from Bergen-Belsen.

It is not known what internal motives of the Jewish Congregation in Stockholm could be more important than the memory of Six Million Holocaust Victims.
The demolishing of the Holocaust Monument "6 stones - 6 million" by the Jewish Congregation in Stockholm took place exactly on the 75 anniversary of the first arrival of UNRRA White Boats to Stockholm with the Holocaust survivors from Bergen-Belsen. Many of them died upon arrival and were buried at Northern Cemetry. Their gravestones together with "6 stones - 6 million" stones with the names of the 6 death camps were actually the entire monument. So Auschwitz stone, Treblinka stone, Chelmno stone, etc. were removed and hidden by the Jewish Congregation. The Death camp granite stones (200 kg each) were placed on specially prepared concrete constructions looking exactly the same way as those on the photo in front of the Great Synagogue.

Both desecration actions are performed by religious Jews that belong to local Jewish congregations.

* August 12, 1942 - Deportations from Bedzin and Sosnowiec to Auschwitz - Aron Verständig (info@jfst.se) ordered the desecration of the Holocaust Monument that was placed between the graves of the girls from Bedzin and Sosnowiec

** Actually, 1 500 000 Jewish children perished in the Holocaust.

*** What internal motives of the Jewish Congregation in Stockholm could be more important than the memory of Six Million Holocaust Victims? - Reflections - YomHashoah.