Holocaust memorial in Center City draws appreciation on Holocaust Remembrance Day
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia is home to the nation's first public Holocaust memorial.
It's a monument people are drawn to, especially on Monday, which marks Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The Horowitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza in Center City Philadelphia is located at 16th and Arch streets at the head of the Ben Franklin Parkway.
It's the oldest public Holocaust memorial in the United States.
RELATED | 'We spent three years hiding': Holocaust survivor speaks out at Philadelphia synagogue
"This is a sacred place dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust and the six million Jewish people who died during the Holocaust," said Eszter Kutas, executive director of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation.
The memorial was established in 1964 with the support of Philadelphia-area Holocaust survivors. It features a large statue dedicated to the six million Jewish people who died.
"It is the 20th century's worst genocide," said Kutas.
The site is open to the public and often hosts school groups who read the foundation's educational curriculum.
"We opened the site with a lot of educational features and artifacts to increase public education and pubic commemoration," said Kutas. "Visitors who come to the plaza can download our free app called iWalk. It walks you through the plaza using Holocaust survivor testimony."
One of those survivors is Suzy Ressler who, before her passing, did an interview detailing her experience in various concentration camps.
"I don't know if it's a curse or a blessing, but I have total recollection of every day and every moment," Ressler said. "They did not feed us. We were starved skeletons."
Kutas says Ressler also linked the past to the present in her interview.
"She also gives some remarkable points about why we need to be careful that history does not repeat itself," Kutas said. "Antisemitism today again is rising. We cannot underestimate how important the universal lessons of the Holocaust is in this moment of time especially."
