Landmark Preservation Consulting

MEMORIAL TO THE SIX MILLION

The nonprofit organization of Eternal Life Hemshech has commissioned Landmark Preservation Consulting LLC (LPC) to conduct a conditions assessment for the 1965 Memorial to the Six Million located within Greenwood Cemetery in Atlanta. The Memorial to the Six Million, also known as the Memorial to the Six Million Martyrs, is an open-air memorial to the genocide of Jews of the Holocaust located within Greenwood Cemetery. Completed in 1965, the memorial was built by survivors who resided in Atlanta and sought a place to pray for family members that perished in the Holocaust. The memorial is the first three dimensional memorial to the Holocaust in the United States. Additionally, the memorial is Georgia’s oldest and most visible reminder of the Holocaust and is symbolic of the struggles of the Jewish families who fled Europe in the midst of the Holocaust. The memorial in Atlanta remains the centerpiece of Holocaust education and observances in Atlanta.

In 1964, a group of 100 Holocaust survivors in Atlanta organized a non-profit organization under the name Eternal Life-Hemshech for the purpose of building a memorial to the memory of their loved ones who were among the genocide of Jews of the Holocaust. (Hemshech translates to ‘continuation’ in Hebrew.) The group wanted the memorial to serve as a place to say Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead. The Atlanta memorial is part of a broad pattern of Holocaust survivors in America building memorials to honor the memories of family that were killed in Europe between 1939 and 1945. The majority of Holocaust memorials constructed in the United States were built after 1965, the 20th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Memorial to the Six Million in Atlanta is nationally significant in the area of architecture because it is an early example of the large-scale memorials that were constructed in cities across America in the last decades of the 20th century. More than a tablet or sculpture, the Atlanta memorial is an architectural monument with interior and exterior space. It is additionally significant in the area of architecture at the national level because it is an outstanding example of modern architecture in Georgia and because it is an excellent example of modern architecture used to create a memorial. 

Benjamin Hirsch, the architect of the Memorial, graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Architecture in 1958. He practiced primarily in Atlanta between 1962 and 1995, specializing in religious architecture. Hirsh designed the Memorial as an abstract monument with interlocking walls that provide a private, interior space for mourning and contemplation. Its abstract form and unadorned walls are a departure from the classical canon and allegorical monuments that were built in Georgia for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Memorial to the Six Million, although not an early example of modern architecture in Georgia, is among the best examples of modern principles of design translated to a commemorative monument. Its form derived from basic geometry, its lack of references to past historical styles, and its monumental scale are all elements of modern architecture. The interlocking walls clad in Stone Mountain granite unify the design. This memorial is among the first large-scale commemorative monuments constructed in Georgia that defies traditional classical design and embraces the tenets of modernism.

Benjamin Hirsch believed that the design “must be a space that invites the public in, yet creates the privacy and atmosphere of holiness. . . . The manner in which the limits are confined becomes, therefore, the major criteria for the Memorial/Monument.” Architect Benjamin Hirsch described the building program as serving three basic functions: For the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust who lost their families to the brutality of Hitler’s followers, it must be a substitute for the actual graves of their loved ones, which do not, to their knowledge, exist. It must be a place conducive for saying the kaddish, (Jewish mourning prayer), a place conducive to contemplation and meditation in privacy; For the generation of non-Jews that were little affected personally but lived through World War II and are prone to say “How long must we remember?” it must be a constant reminder that this unbelievable act of man against man happened in their lifetime and that our “civilized” world did nothing to stop it from happening; For those born after the war or for future generations, the monument should stimulate inquiry into this event, which very likely by then will be minimized in the pages of history.” Benjamin Hirsch believed “the design must be imposing enough to achieve the latter two functions. It must be a space that invites the public in, yet creates the privacy and atmosphere of holiness required by the first function. The manner in which the limits are confined becomes, therefore, the major criteria for the Memorial/Monument.” The Memorial qualified for the National Register of Historic Places under criteria: A, C, F and G and was listed on the National Register for Historic Places in 2008. 

The purpose of this assessment is to identify the memorial’s deficiencies and to provide recommendations for preservation treatment. During the assessment of the structure, several deficiencies were noted and will need to be addressed to prevent further degradation of the historic materials, features, architectural elements, and general characteristics. However, none of the deficiencies noted are deemed to be critical, therefore a prioritization of tasks based on the immediate physical was not listed.