The Beth Shalom Holocaust Memorial, Bloomington, Indiana

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This memorial is based on a well known gesture for

remembrance among Jews: to place a stone on a grave

when we visit it. Hence the memorial design is focussed

on stones and on this gesture. It is a space where this

gesture may be performed over and over again and

become a beacon of remembrance for generations to

come. It is a place of respect for those many loved ones

and unknown loved ones who have perished in the

Holocaust as Jews. And it is a vessel that may allow for

personal and collective memory to flow through it. 


The memorial is a simple structure made up of two clear

acrylic halves. A bottom half that houses blank grey

stones and a top half that holds stones engraved with

names. These are names of relatives of the Beth Shalom

community who perished in the Holocaust. The blank

stones are for all the many nameless who have nobody

​to honor their memory.




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A book accompanies the memorial.

It anchors the stories behind the names on

​the stones.

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The memorial is meant to be

interactive which means that it 

can be used as a place of active

remembrance at any time of the

​year and by anyone from the

community. If one wishes to

remember one or several

relatives with names on stones

one lifts off the top hood of the

memorial takes out the

respective engraved stone(s)

with the particular name(s) on 

them and places them on the

ledge that surrounds the top half

of the memorial. ​

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I was commissioned by the Bloomington, Indiana synagogue Beth Shalom to design and build this

memorial. The acrylic structure was fabricated according to my designs by Ignition Arts, LLC, Indianapolis,

Indiana. The memorial was completed in the Spring of 2022 and inaugurated by the Beth Shalom

congregation on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 27.