Indifference to Injustice is the Gate to Hell
A surprising discovery in New York City, a book rec, and "Violins of Hope" for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Monday, January 27th, marks marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It’s hard to believe that just three weeks ago, I was there, walking through what remains of the two concentration camps. That visit is best summarized by what my travel companion recently sent me:
In case you missed it, read about my own version of A Real Pain here.
A Surprising Discovery
A couple of months ago, I was on a walking tour with the New York Adventure Club called “A Tale of Three NYC Squares.” I expected to hear the usual history: how Union Square was once a burial ground, the couple of times Gramercy Park has been open to the public, and the account of Stanford White’s murder on the rooftop of the second Madison Square Garden just across the street from Madison Square Park. But what I didn’t expect was something else in the vicinity of the park!
Just east of the park on Madison Avenue, between 25th and 26th streets, is the New York State Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. It’s a Beaux-Arts building of grandeur, with Corinthian columns topped with statues of historical significance.
But what’s easy to miss is the carved detail on one of the white marble columns facing the park: an aerial view of Auschwitz with the inscription, “Indifference to Injustice is the Gate to Hell.”
This memorial, called the Memorial to the Victims of the Injustice of the Holocaust, was designed in 1990 by Harriet Feigenbaum. It was created when members of the court were concerned by an increasing indifference to injustice.
The map, based on a photograph taken on August 25, 1944 by the U.S. Air Force, shows the commandant’s house, the execution wall, gas and torture chambers, and crematorium. Feigenbaum chose to recreate this photograph to imply the U.S. knew of the camp, but did nothing about it.
This memorial is so easy to miss in the city! Have you seen this before? Let me know in the comments below.
🎻Violins of Hope
A new project is coming out using the Violins of Hope collection! This collection of violins belonged to Holocaust survivors, often adorned with original Stars of David, and have been restored and played in concerts around the world.
On Monday, in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, composer Daniel Pelton is releasing “Violins of Hope,” a powerful trio of compositions that represent freedom and hope in the midst of atrocity.
The project was recorded using instruments from the collection, with violins coming from WWII survivors, concentration camps, and the rubble of homes from the war.
“I want listeners to imagine the joy of getting your freedom back after it was taken from you, and the duty we have to enjoy ours, and do everything we can to maintain it,” Daniel said in a press release. “I hope that the instruments enjoyed their time being played in this piece that only acknowledges the light and leaves the darkness behind.”
Click here to pre-save and stream “Violins of Hope,” which goes live on Monday.
📖Book rec: Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz
There’s a “new” book out about Auschwitz that sounds like no other. Available in English after more than 70 years, this powerful and intense memoir recounts József Debreczeni’s survival at Auschwitz in the “Cold Crematorium,” a camp hospital where death awaited those too weak to work. Debreczeni was a Hungarian journalist and poet who recorded the horrors he witnessed with accurate detail. First published in Hungarian in 1950, it was never translated due to the Cold War and antisemitism, ironically. What’s called a masterpiece by reviewers, and one of the top 10 books of 2024 in the New York Times, was nearly lost to history.
If you can stomach it, check it out. Personally, I’m a little burnt out from reading too many Holocaust books lately, and from my trip to Poland. But this memoir sounds like it can’t be ignored. I plan to read it sometime this year.
That’s a wrap! Take time out of your day on Monday to think of the lives and generations lost during the Holocaust, and how we as a community can overcome evil in this world.
Shabbat Shalom,
Thank you for your gift of three things I wasn't aware of, and sharing them in such a meaningfully way.
Well said. And thank you. Let us never stop teaching and telling the stories. 🔯☮️💟 https://jewdicious.substack.com/p/people-cant-never-forget-what-they