In the final hour of daylight my town's touring group just made it to Ya'ar HaKedoshim, the Holocaust Martyrs Forest.
On the path leading to the new (2011) memorial to Anne Frank were signposts quoting her famous diary.
"The memorial is a sculpture created by designer Piet Cohen, and is the form of a room made of rusted steel. In the corner of the structure sits an uncomfortably high stool, from where the viewer can see an engraved image of the famed chestnut tree which Anne Frank wrote about so lovingly in her diary. The viewing experience is meant to recreate the feeling of imprisonment, isolation and discomfort while looking longingly through a window at the world outside." *
If you are ever in the Jerusalem Hills, look for this sign and follow it into the forest.
It is a moving experience.
* For very interesting details about the Anne Frank Memorial Park and about the Martyrs Forest with its six million trees, please see the Jewish National Fund/Keren Kayemet page
http://www.kkl-jnf.org/people-and-environment/kkl-jnf-projects-partners/dfu-2012/holocaust-martyrs-forest-anne-frank-memorial/
especially now, just a day after Yom Hashoah.
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Thnk You Cousin <3
ReplyDeleteVery poignant.
ReplyDeleteI like the artist's use of the chestnut tree.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Anne Frank would think of all this and that we have not forgotten her.
I can see that the Anne Frank memorial was created in 2011, yet I have not seen it mentioned in any of the normal newspapers or magazines. It is quite haunting.
ReplyDeleteDina , beautiful, thank you for posting this .
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing about this. Never heard of it before
ReplyDeleteWe were at the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. It was an incredible experience to think of all she suffered and wrote about in that place. I've been reading about other young girls' accounts in diaries they wrote at the time. It's all so heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post. I am like Hels above and sadly have never seen any mention of this anywhere before!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful place. I visited the link and read all about it. Efi Stengler's words to Anne Frank brought tears to my eyes. I am so glad you have this forest and that it is being well maintained for future generations to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteCame back to visit again.
ReplyDeleteImagine if she hadn't written it all down. We would have lost this.