Holocaust Memorial

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The seven bas-reliefs of the Holocaust Memorial by Arbit Blatas, 1980
Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, Cannaregio
Venice, October 2012

“In April 1979, Arbit Blatas was invited to create the drawings for the nine-part TV film series entitled ‘Holocaust’. Blatas had been searching for a way to honor, not only the six million, but to pay homage to his mother, who died in the gas chambers of Bergen-Belsen, and his father who survived Dachau. The drawings led to the creation of the seven bas-relief sculptures which have now become historic sites to visit in Venice, Paris and New York. In 2004, the last editions were consecrated in the infamous Fort IX in Kaunas, Lithuania (birthplace of Blatas). In 1993 his last sculpture, entitled ‘The Last Train’, was consecrated by the President of Italy on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Deportation. It stands permanently alongside the Monument of the Holocaust in the Historic Ghetto of Venice.” (Monument to the Holocaust, Arbit Blatas)