Monument in memory of the Jewish citizens who were deported and assassinated during 1943-1945, 2004, cm 70x230x60, bronze, Bolzano Cemetery
This monument, which was commissioned by the Jewish Community of Merano and financed by a public subscription, is dedicated to the memory of the Jewish citizens of the Upper Adige who were deported and killed during World War II.
It is in memory of three little girls in particular, the youngest Italian victims, Aida Eminente, Olimpia Carpi and Elena De Salvo, who were respectively one, three and six years old. The monument is composed of two triangular-shaped prisms, one of which is rotated 60° and placed on top of the other so as to create a perfect Star of David when viewed from above. The upper prism, in bronze, has three plaques on each of its sides; these represent lines of people, stylized human shapes: the victims who wait or who march.
The line is intended as a visual recollection of the singleness of the Nazi extermination, a meticulous organization that provided an orderly and efficient modality for the annihilation of human nature. The central plaque on each side bears the image of a little girl in remembrance of the youngest victims.
A Hebrew text in relief creates the texture of the human figures. This text, which is taken from the prayers recited on the day of Yom Kippur, is a request to the Lord for a life that is serene, peaceful and safe for the Jewish people. A network of neuronal cells winds round the entire prism and at some points is soldered onto the underlying bas-relief. The neuronal cells, which are of a smooth polished bronze, are without texture. This absence of any ethnic or cultural connotation suggests that the merger stated in the title must occur in the memory and conscience of every human being, independently of one’s nationality, religion or ethnic group, so that what happened will never again be repeated.
The sculpture is installed on an artificial hillock in the shape of a circle that is reached by following a path in the shape of a spiral that has a two-fold significance. On the one hand, it allows for a gradual approach to the sculpture so that the details are revealed little by little: initially the contrast between the polished bronze/patinated bronze and the ramified form entwining the plaques, then the lines of human figures, and lastly, the texture formed by the letters in relief that contain a message of hope and recall the inseparable bond between the Jewish people and their book.
On the other hand, it calls to mind the spiral of violence that the Jews suffered during the persecutions, a violence that began with the loss of civil rights and ended with annihilation. The spiral suggests the gradual progression of anguish that, leaving the protagonists themselves incredulous, led the victims to extermination, often without their fully realizing what was happening.
The monument is dedicated to the eternal memory of the 99 Jews who were deported and killed whose names and ages appear on the bilingual tablet at the beginning of the path.
EAST SIDE SOUTH/WEST SIDE NORTH/WEST SIDE