Centuries of the history of Jews of Macedonia ended in a blink of an eye. Is there a way to represent this horrifying dynamic? How does one show what was lost?
The visitor is reminded of these loses at four different times: As the visitor enters the Museum, he/she sees pictures of the dead in frames, some frames are empty for the faceless, nameless victims and others are mirrors, because it could have been the visitor who was lost.
The Memorial, in the space beyond the gallery, features fragments of gravestones, ashes from Treblinka and most importantly, the names of the 7,144 Jews who were deported and murdered in Treblinka.
An extraordinary Memorial composed of 7,144 beads runs throughout the Museum. Designed brilliantly by Edward Jacobs, it hangs above the three stories of the Museum. The visitor first sees this beaded Memorial after the ending of the orientation film, when the theater roof opens to provide a glimpse of the Memorial itself, which is colorful and individual -, each strand is different. As the visitor traverses the galleries, the Memorial changes, depending on the viewer’s point of view and what floor they are on.
Visitors gain understanding of what was lost after leaving the gallery of Liberation to enter the Presence of Absence, a room where frames contain the fading images of the dead, reminding us precisely of who was lost, their presence felt even in their absence.
We see the Jews who were annihilated: we remember them, we bear witness to them. They call out of us: “Remember, don’t let the world forget, Never Again, not to the Jewish people, not to any people.”
Is there a place in the new museum you believe will be a seminal memorable experience for people who visit?
The natural “pilgrimage” from the Bulgarian occupation, by descending the stairs into Monopol and then walking through the wagon to an exhibition on Treblinka is regarded by many visitors as the most transformative experience in the Museum.