Attractions, Boston, History, Museums, Memorials & Landmarks, USA

New England Holocaust Memorial

Catherine Sweeney
September 8, 2011

I was quite moved by the simple, yet powerful message of the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston.

"The New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts"

New England Holocaust Museum

There is a path that runs beneath the six glass towers representing the main Nazi concentration camps — Majdanek, Chelmno, Sobibor, Treblinka, Belzec, and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Etched in the glass are six million numbers for the six million Jews who died during the Holocaust.

"The tall towers of the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston, Massachusetts"At one end of the path is a granite slab engraved with this famous quotation by Martin Niemoeller:

“THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

THEN THEY CAME for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

THEN THEY CAME for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

For more information: New England Holocaust Memorial

The New England Holocaust Memorial is located on the Freedom Trail between Congress and Union Streets near Faneuil Hall.

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39 thoughts on “New England Holocaust Memorial”

    1. Cathy Post author

      Thanks, Michael. There are many aspects of the memorial that are moving, and those words fit it so well.

  9. Laurel

    Very powerful words. I didn’t even realize that there was a holocaust memorial in Boston. It sounds very touching.

    1. Cathy Post author

      I was surprised when we came across it. The effort to create a memorial there was started by a group of concentration camp survivors who live in the Boston area.

  10. Caanan @ No Vacation Required

    That quote is extremely powerful, and that monument is as well. I felt very fortunate to stumble upon it when we were in Boston.

    Another quote that I try to carry around in the very front of my brain: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

    1. Cathy Post author

      We kind of stumbled upon it, too. I don’t recall seeing anything about before that. Thanks for the sharing the “injustice” quote.

  12. Carol

    I had never seen the quote by Martin Niemoeller that you shared, but it definitely awakened something in me reading it. I think Martin Luther King has a quote that makes me feel the same way… “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” I strive to live a life integrity, and I am thankful for the reminders from others along the way.

  14. Turkey's For Life

    I’ve heard this quote before – so important. We travelled back to Turkey via Eastern Europe once (2006, I think) just for a change from flying direct to Turkey from the UK. There are so many memorials, museums, centres, like this and you can’t ignore them. Really glad we did the journey. A moving experience but an amazing trip, too.
    Julia

    1. Cathy Post author

      I’d love to visit Eastern Europe and visit the museums and memorials there. Wonderful that you took that trip.

    1. Cathy Post author

      I agree. I think that’s why it’s so important to have memorials, monuments, & museums & to encourage young people to visit them.

    1. Cathy Post author

      Thanks, Nancie. I don’t know if it’s obvious that the numbers on the bottom of the photo are a reflection from the glass.

  20. Andrew Graeme Gould

    Very well documented, Cathy. I’ve heard those lines before. Putting it all together here makes a really powerful impression.

    1. Cathy Post author

      Thanks, Andrew. I had also heard the quotation before, but seeing the words at this memorial really struck me.

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