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Desert Holocaust Memorial


Desert Holocaust Memorial




Historical timeline of the Holocaust

Holocaust memorial plaque
"HE WHO SAVES ONE LIFE
SAVES THE WORLD"
THE NAMES OF MORE THAN 12,000
"RIGHTEOUS GENTILES"
ARE EMBODIED WITHIN THIS PEDESTAL
"MAY THEIR DEEDS
NEVER BE FORGOTTEN"


BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SYSTEMATIC DEPRIVATION BY LAW OF THE
CIVIL RIGHTS, JOBS, PROPERTY AND LIFE OF "NON-ARYANS"
BY THE NAZI PARTY.

MARCH 1933
THE REICH JUDICIARY FIRES ALL JEWISH JUDGES AND STATE ATTORNEYS.
THEY ARE FORBIDDEN TO ENTER THE COURTROOMS.
 
FEBRUARY 1934
NEW LAWS EXCLUDE JEWS FROM JOBS, SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES,
ENTERTAINMENT, FARMING AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
 
MARCH 1934
ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRST CONCENTRATION CAMP IN NAZI GERMANY DACHOU.
 
SEPTEMBER 1935
NURENBERG LAWS ON "CITIZENSHIP RACE" TOOK THE RIGHT OF CITIZENSHIP
FROM ALL JEWS.
 
OCTOBER 1936
CONVERTED JEWS WHO BECAME CHRISTIANS WERE PERSECUTED LIKE ALL
OTHER JEWS.
 
JUNE 1937
REICH POSTAL MINISTRY FIRES ALL POSTAL WORKERS WHOSE SPOUSES
ARE NOT PURELY ARYAN.
 
JULY 1937
BUCHENWALD CONCENTRATION CAMP OPENS.
 
OCTOBER 1938
OVER 17,000 JEWISH POLISH CITIZENS EXPELLED FROM GERMANY TO ZBASZYN.
 
NOVEMBER 1938
"KRISTALL NACHT" ANTI-JEWISH RIOTS IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA. 300,000
JEWS ARRESTED, 191 SYNAGOGUES DESTROYED, 7,500 SHOPS AND STORES LOOTED.
 
DECEMBER 1938
REICH ECONOMIC MINISTRY FREEZES ALL JEWISH PROPERTY AND ASSETS.
 
AUGUST 1939
AFTER POLAND IS CONQUERED 3,000,000 JEWS WERE PUT IN CONCENTRATION
CAMPS TO STARVE OR PERISH AS SLAVE LABORERS.
 
SEPTEMBER 1939
POLICE IMPOSE AN 8 P.M. CURFEW ON JEWS.
 
JULY 1940
REICH POSTAL MINISTRY REFUSES TELEPHONE SERVICES TO JEWS.
 
AUGUST 1941
THE S.S. INSTALLS CREMATORIUMS IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND GAS
CHAMBERS IN 6 DEATH CAMP, MASS KILLINGS BEGIN.
 
SEPTEMBER 1941
ALL JEWS OLDER THAN 6 YEARS OF AGE ARE FORBIDDEN TO APPEAR IN
PUBLIC WITHOUT WEARING THE "JEWISH STAR".
 
OCTOBER 1941
THE CHIEF OF POLICE ORDERS THE DEPORTATION OF 50,000 JEWS FROM
GERMANY, AUSTRIA AND BOHEMIA TO GHETTOS IN THE OCCUPIED EAST
(RIGA, LODZ, KOVNO AND MINSK).
 
SEPTEMBER 1942
LARGE SCALE OF "EXPERIMENTATION" BEGAN IN THE DEATH CAMPS.
 
NOVEMBER 1942
S.S. CHIEF HIMMLER ORDERS THAT ALL JEWS IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS IN
GERMANY PROPER MUST BE TRANSFERRED TO CAMPS OF AUSCHWITZ AND
MAYDENEK IN OCCUPIED POLAND.
 
FEBRUARY 1945
THE REICH EDUCATION MINISTRY ORDERS THE DESTRUCTION OF FILES
RECORDING ANTI-JEWISH ACTIVITIES OF NAZI STATE.
 
APRIL 1945
THE DEFEAT OF NAZI GERMANY.

PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST
11 MILLION INNOCENT MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN OF ALL FAITHS MURDERED
6 MILLION ONLY BECAUSE THEY WERE JEWS.




Centerpiece Sculpture of the Memorial

Holocaust memorial sculpture Holocaust memorial sculpture Holocaust memorial sculpture

"CENTER OF THE MEMORIAL"
AT THE HEART OF THE MEMORIAL THERE ARE FIVE BRONZE FIGURES REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE AND DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE HOLOCAUST MOUNTED ON A DOUBLE TIERED STAR OF DAVID.
 
"BOY FROM THE GHETTO"
IN A STATE OF DESPAIR AFTER BEING SEPARATED FROM HIS PARENTS AND FORCED TO THE TRANSPORTATION AND TAKEN TO AUSCHWITZ.
 
"MOTHER WITH CHILDREN"
BEGGING FOR HER CHILDREN'S LIVES AS AN SS SOLDIER'S FINGER SQUEEZES THE TRIGGER OF HIS RIFLE BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT LET GO OF HER CHILDREN.
 
"A RABBI"
PRAYING OVER DEAD BODIES AS SS SOLDIERS RIDICULE HIM. HE DID NOT SURVIVE.
 
"THE DYING MAN"
ALONE, SILENT, DYING, HIS DEATH REPRESENTS THE REALITY OF BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE AND HATRED THAT HAS TAKEN HIM TO ITS INEVITABLE END.
HE REPRESENTS THE 11,000,000 PEOPLE WHO DIED IN THE HOLOCAUST, JEWS, CHRISTIANS, GYPSIES, MENTALLY ILL, PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED, HOMOSEXUAL AND MANY OTHERS, THAT WERE KILLED IN THE NAME OF NAZISM AND THE SICKNESS IT STOOD FOR.
 
"THE DEFIANT MAN"
THE ACCUSING MAN! HE STANDS TALL, HE SURVIVED THE MONSTROSITY OF MANY CONCENTRATION CAMPS. HE WEARS THE NUMBER "A-17874" TATTOOED ON HIS LEFT ARM IN AUSCHWITZ DEATH CAMP. HE IS TO TEACH, TESTIFY AND TO REMIND THE WORLD
"NEVER AGAIN"

map showing concentration camps number of victims in country number of victims in country




Bronze relief plaques depicting the Holocaust

Liberation
LIBERATION
"THE THINGS I SAW BEGGAR DESCRIPTION"
"I MADE THE VISIT DELIBERATELY, IN ORDER TO BE IN A POSITION TO GIVE FIRSTHAND EVIDENCE OF THESE THINGS, THE VISUAL EVIDENCE AND THE VERBAL TESTIMONY OF STARVATION, CRUELTY AND BESTIALITY WERE SO OVERPOWERING AS TO LEAVE ME A BIT SICK"
GEN. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
SUPREME COMMANDER, ALLIED FORCES IN EUROPE.



Death Marches
DEATH MARCHES
DURING THE WINTER OF 1944-45 THERE WERE MARCHES FROM CAMP TO CAMP AS ALLIED ARMIES APPROACHED. SOME DEATH MARCHES COVERED HUNDREDS OF MILES WITH LITTLE OR NO FOOD OR WATER. THOSE WHO PAUSED, FELL BEHIND OR STEPPED OUT OF THE LINE WERE SHOT.



Working Conditions
WORKING CONDITIONS
THOSE SURVIVING SELECTIONS WERE KEPT IN THE CAMPS TO STARVE OR PERISH IN THE NAZI PLAN OF "EXTERMINATION THROUGH WORK". THE RELIEF COMES FROM A PHOTO TAKEN BY THE SS AT AUSCHWITZ IN 1942.



Children of the Holocaust
CHILDREN OF THE HOLOCAUST
1,600,000 CHILDREN PERISHED IN THE HOLOCAUST. SOME CHILDREN ESPECIALLY TWINS WERE USED FOR MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION.



sleeping quarters
SLEEPING QUARTERS
IN SOME CAMPS THE WOODEN BARRACKS THAT WERE BUILT TO HOLD FORTY-EIGHT HORSES HOUSED MORE THAN EIGHT HUNDRED HUMANS. THE RELIEF COMES FROM PHOTOS FROM SACHSENHAUSEN AND BUCHENWALD.



gas chamber
GAS CHAMBER
THE MASS KILLINGS OF JEWS WITH ZYKLON B GAS BEGAN IN THE SPRING OF 1942 AT GAS CHAMBEERS IN MANY CAMPS DISGUISED AS SHOWER ROOMS. THE GAS CHAMBERS LURED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS TO THEIR DEATHS.



the crematorium
THE CREMATORIUM
AFTER FINDING DISPOSAL OF THOUSANDS OF BODIES THROUGH OPEN FIRES INEFFICIENT, THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY WAS INCORPORATED BY THE SS AS THEY INSTALLED CREMATORIUMS IN MANY EXISTING CONCENTRATION CAMPS.



the selection
THE SELECTION
THE RELIEF SHOWS A LINE OF NEWLY ARRIVED TRANSPORT OF MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN AS DR. MENGELE (THE ANGEL OF DEATH) SELECTS WHO SHALL LIVE AND WHO SHALL DIE.



the transportation
THE TRANSPORTATION
JEWISH COMMUNITIES UNAWARE OF THEIR FATE WERE TAKEN FROM THE GHETTOS BY THE NAZIS AND TRANSPORTED IN BOXCARS WITHOUT SANITATION AND LITTLE FOOD, WATER OR VENTILATION. THE RELIEF SHOWS A TRAIN UNLOADING AT AUSCHWITZ.



mass execution
MASS EXECUTION
THE RELIEF SHOWS AN EXECUTION THAT TOOK PLACE IN SUCH LOCATIONS AS BABIYAR, RUDKI, AND OTHER PLACES. THERE WERE OPEN AIR SHOOTINGS WHERE THOUSANDS WERE SHOT DOWN INTO LONG TRENCHES SOME WERE BURIED ALIVE.



Warsaw ghetto uprising
WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING
"LET US NOT GO TO SLAUGHTER LIKE SHEEP!" IT IS TRUE THAT WE ARE WEAK AND WE HAVE NOBODY TO HELP US. BUT OUR ONLY DIGNIFIED ANSWER TO THE ENEMY MUST BE RESISTANCE. AFTER THE FALL OF THE GHETTO THE SURVIVING JEWS WERE EXECUTED OR TAKEN TO AUSCHWITZ.




Memorial Wall

Memorial Wall Memorial Wall Memorial Wall

THE REVEREND MARTIN NEIMOELLER, A PASTOR IN THE
GERMAN CONFESSING CHURCH, SPENT SEVEN YEARS IN A
CONCENTRATION CAMP. HE WROTE THESE WORDS:

FIRST THEY CAME FOR THE COMMUNISTS,
AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT --
BECAUSE I WAS NOT A COMMUNIST.
THEN THEY CAME FOR THE SOCIALISTS,
AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT --
BECAUSE I WAS NOT A SOCIALIST.
THEN THEY CAME FOR THE LABOR LEADERS,
AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT --
BECAUSE I WAS NOT A LABOR LEADER.
THEN THEY CAME FOR THE JEWS,
AND I DID NOT SPEAK OUT --
BECAUSE I WAS NOT A JEW.
THEN THEY CAME FOR ME,
AND THERE WAS NO ONE LEFT
TO SPEAK OUT FOR ME.


Posts
THE POSTS

REPLICAS OF THE POSTS
THAT CARRIED ELECTRIFIED
BARBED-WIRE AROUND THE
CAMPS SURROUND THIS SITE.



Never Again
I HAVE TOLD YOU THIS STORY
NOT TO WEAKEN YOU
BUT TO STRENGTHEN YOU
NOW IT IS UP TO YOU.
NEVER AGAIN

The Desert Holocaust Memorial is located in Civic Center Park in Palm Desert. The park is at the corner of San Pablo and Fred Waring. See map.




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