Learning from the past ~ lessons for today - Holocaust Education ...

Holocaust Memorial Day 2009
The Holocaust in Irish Public Life
Unveiling of Holocaust memorial, Listowel 1995
The only public Holocaust memorial monument in Ireland was unveiled in The Garden
of Europe in Listowel, Co Kerry, in May 1995. The occasion marked fifty years since the
end of World War ll when the horrors of the Holocaust were revealed.
The garden was established on reclaimed wasteland by the Rotary Club of Listowel
supported by a small grant from EU development funds. The garden has since
matured and developed into a beautiful and peaceful oasis, where the Holocaust
monument takes pride of place and serves as a place of pilgrimage and reflection at
various times of remembrance.
Holocaust Memorial, Garden of
Europe, Listowel, Co Kerry
An Taoiseach, John Bruton, plants a tree at the Irish War Memorial, Islandbridge,
to commemorate all of the victims of the Holocaust and fifty years since the end
of World War II. In his address he said:
Left to right: An Taoiseach John Bruton, Mr Jim Higgins TD,
Israeli Ambassador Zvi Gabay and Mr Prionsias de Rossa TD
We in Ireland have not been immune from the bigotry and
the indifference which manifested itself in Europe this
century. Ireland’s doors were not freely open to those
families and individuals fleeing from persecution and death.
Some people did find refuge and comfort in Ireland, but their
numbers were not very great. We must acknowledge the
consequences of this indifference. Tonight, on behalf of the
Irish government and people, I honour the memory of those
millions of European Jews who died in the Holocaust. I also
recall the Gypsies and the homosexual community who were
marked down for extermination and all those who were
persecuted for resisting the Nazi tyranny.
May 1995
The Irish Jewish Museum
The Irish Jewish Museum has a number of artefacts
relating to the Holocaust and World War II. Most, if not all,
were donated by individuals who had in some cases been
directly affected by the Nazi regime in Europe.
Yellow ‘Juif’ Star: Donated to the
museum by an elderly French lady
who had been issued with the star
when the Germans occupied France.
For a short period she kept the star
hidden beneath her coat to avoid
persecution until one day she was witness to an accident in
which a French girl of similar in age had been fatally
injured. The donor exchanged her Jewish ID with the
other girl, taking on her identity for the remainder of the
German occupation, which almost certainly saved her from
deportation and an unknown fate.
Lodz Ghetto Money: Donated by Mr and Mrs Goldfarb
from New York, the money on display was currency
developed for use inside the Lodz ghetto.
Burnt Torah Scroll: During a visit to Strasbourg Raphael Siev,
Curator of the IJM, was presented with the burnt remains of
a Torah scroll from a Strasbourg synagogue. The donor was a
young girl when the Germans marched into Strasbourg and
vandalised Jewish property. After the attack on her local
synagogue she collected anything that was salvageable,
which included the scroll on exhibit.
German Passport: The
German passport on display
belonged to Martha Bieler.
On the opening page you
can clearly see the large red
‘J’ stamped to indicate her
religious identity.
Library: A bookcase and books relating to the Holocaust
were donated to the museum in 2008. They are available for
anyone who wants to read them in the museum, where the
curator would be pleased to facilitate students, researchers
and interested members of the public.
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