IMG_20220209_114559-2
Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names
Seventy years after the Second World War, more than 102,000 victims of the Holocaust finally have their own memorial in Amsterdam. A memorial with the names of all the Dutch Holocaust victims. This has finally provide the Netherlands with a tangible memorial where the 102,000 Jewish victims and 220 Sinti and Roma victims can be commemorated individually and collectively.
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi's murdered an estimated 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma. Of the 140,000 Jews who lived in the Netherlands in 1940, 102,000 did not survive the war. Not all Jews were murdered in the gas chambers of the exterminations camps as Auschwitz-Birkenau. Many were murdered in mass executions or died as a result of sickness, hunger, exhaustion or slave labour. The Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names commemorates all these victims.
In 2016, the Dutch Auschwitz Committee, together with architect Daniel Libeskind, presented the new design for the Dutch Holocaust Names Memorial. This national memorial is located in the heart of the former Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam, there where it all happened more than seventy years ago. The opening was in 2021.
The memorial consists of four Hebrew letters that make up a word that translates as ‘In memory of’. When visitors enter the memorial, they find themselves in a labyrinth of passageways flanked by two-metre-tall brick walls that convey the message ‘In memory of’. Inscribed on each of the 102,000 bricks is a name, date of birth and age of death, in such a way that the name of each victim can be touched. The walls of names support the four letters in reflective stainless steel.
Brick is a building material used throughout the Netherlands and western Europe. In combination with the highly reflective geometric forms of the steel letters, the brickwork connects Amsterdam's past and present. A narrow void at the point where the brick walls meet the metal forms makes it appear that the steel letters float, symbolizing the interruption in the history and culture of the Dutch people.
Rijnboutt Architects was the coordinating and executive architect for the Names Memorial. With its knowledge of local construction practice, it supported Studio Libeskind by detailing its wonderful design in compliance with Dutch laws and regulations.
IMG_20220209_114559-2
Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names
Seventy years after the Second World War, more than 102,000 victims of the Holocaust finally have their own memorial in Amsterdam. A memorial with the names of all the Dutch Holocaust victims. This has finally provide the Netherlands with a tangible memorial where the 102,000 Jewish victims and 220 Sinti and Roma victims can be commemorated individually and collectively.
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi's murdered an estimated 6 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma. Of the 140,000 Jews who lived in the Netherlands in 1940, 102,000 did not survive the war. Not all Jews were murdered in the gas chambers of the exterminations camps as Auschwitz-Birkenau. Many were murdered in mass executions or died as a result of sickness, hunger, exhaustion or slave labour. The Dutch Holocaust Memorial of Names commemorates all these victims.
In 2016, the Dutch Auschwitz Committee, together with architect Daniel Libeskind, presented the new design for the Dutch Holocaust Names Memorial. This national memorial is located in the heart of the former Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam, there where it all happened more than seventy years ago. The opening was in 2021.
The memorial consists of four Hebrew letters that make up a word that translates as ‘In memory of’. When visitors enter the memorial, they find themselves in a labyrinth of passageways flanked by two-metre-tall brick walls that convey the message ‘In memory of’. Inscribed on each of the 102,000 bricks is a name, date of birth and age of death, in such a way that the name of each victim can be touched. The walls of names support the four letters in reflective stainless steel.
Brick is a building material used throughout the Netherlands and western Europe. In combination with the highly reflective geometric forms of the steel letters, the brickwork connects Amsterdam's past and present. A narrow void at the point where the brick walls meet the metal forms makes it appear that the steel letters float, symbolizing the interruption in the history and culture of the Dutch people.
Rijnboutt Architects was the coordinating and executive architect for the Names Memorial. With its knowledge of local construction practice, it supported Studio Libeskind by detailing its wonderful design in compliance with Dutch laws and regulations.