A Wall of Names

When I was in town for an appointment today, I walked past this place and decided to blip it. It is the Wiesbaden Holocaust Memorial, built at the location of the synagogue which was burned down in November 1938 during the so-called Kristallnacht.

After the war, a road was built in that place and the synagogue was conveniently forgotten, just like the people who used to worship there. It took the city until 2011 to build a memorial for them.

There are more than 1500 names on that wall; the names, dates and place of death of every known Jewish citizen of this city who was murdered by the Nazis. Five of the names belong to my great-grand aunts and uncles. Among the others are many of their friends and their families.