Holocaust Memorial at California Palace of the Legion of Honor
Encyclopedia
The Holocaust Memorial at California Palace of the Legion of Honor is a Holocaust memorial in San Francisco, California
, overlooking San Francisco Bay
. It was created by artist George Segal
out of white painted bronze
.
, another is of a woman holding an apple. Both symbolize the connection between Jews
and Christians. The only standing man is thought to be the sculptor's representation of Margaret Bourke-White
's famous Life Magazine
1945 photograph of the liberation of Buchenwald.
Segal indicates that the vandalism is a reminder that antisemitism still exists.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, overlooking San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. It was created by artist George Segal
George Segal (artist)
George Segal was an American painter and sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement. He was presented with a National Medal of Arts in 1999.-Works:...
out of white painted bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
.
Symbolism
Several of the bodies in the sculpture were designed to be symbolic. One of the bodies resembles ChristJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, another is of a woman holding an apple. Both symbolize the connection between Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Christians. The only standing man is thought to be the sculptor's representation of Margaret Bourke-White
Margaret Bourke-White
Margaret Bourke-White was an American photographer and documentary photographer. She is best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet Industry, the first female war correspondent and the first female photographer for Henry Luce's Life magazine, where her...
's famous Life Magazine
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
1945 photograph of the liberation of Buchenwald.
Vandalism
The memorial was has been vandalized several times. The most common types of vandalism of the memorial are the graffiti of swastikas and the use of splashes of red paint.Segal indicates that the vandalism is a reminder that antisemitism still exists.