Holocaust Memorials in Tennessee
Children's Holocaust Memorial, Whitwell: (From Memorial website) "In 1998 Whitwell Middle School eighth-grade students began an after-school study of the Holocaust (...). As the study progressed, students learned the Nazis exterminated six million Jews. The sheer number overwhelmed students; six million was not a number the students could even begin to grasp.
Students asked (teachers) Sandra Roberts and David Smith about collecting something to show the enormity of this number. Principal Linda M. Hooper permitted the students to begin a collection(...).
Students began bringing in paper clips. Letters were written to famous people asking for paper clips and stories of why people sent the paper clips. Over 30 thousand letters and over 30 million paper clips have been sent to Whitwell Middle School. Students have counted and cataloged each letter and paper clip, now known as the "Children's Holocaust Memorial." The Memorial contains 11 million paper clips housed in an authentic German transport car honoring the lives of all people murdered by the Nazis. (...) All letters, documents, books, and artifacts are displayed in the school's Children's Holocaust Memorial Artifact Library.
The students, staff, and community of Whitwell Middle School have transformed the car from a death car into a symbol of life, honoring the lives of those murdered by the Nazis. For generations of Whitwell students, a paper clip will never again be just a paper clip. Instead, the paper clip is a reminder of the importance of perseverance, empathy, tolerance, and understanding."
Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds plaque, Knoxville: Placed under sponsorship from Knox County, City of Knoxville, Roddie Edmonds Family, Knoxville Jewish Alliance and Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, this plaque commemorates the heroism of Knoxville native, Roddie Edmonds.
Plaque states: "Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds of Knoxville, served in the US Army during World War II. He was taken prisoner by the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge. Edmonds was held prisoner at Stalig IXA POW camp near Ziegenhain, Germany. In January 1945, the Germans announce that all Jewish POWs in the camp were to report the following morning. As the highest ranking non-commissioned officer, he ordered more than 1,275 American captives to fall out with him and fearlessly pronounced, “We are all Jews here.” He would not waver, even with a pistol to his head to identify any prisoners by religion, preventing over 200 Jewish soldiers from being singled out for Nazi persecution and possible death. The Nazi commander backed down. For his defense of Jewish servicemen at the POW camp, Edmonds, an Evangelical Christian, was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations, Israel’s highest award for non-Jews who risked their own lives to save Jews during the Holocaust."
Nashville Holocaust Memorial, Nashville: (from Memorial website)"The idea for a Nashville Holocaust Memorial came from Survivor Esther Loeb. She had been to other communities and was saddened that Nashville did not publicly recognize or remember the Shoah. She approached Felicia Anchor, who was a child of Survivors. Felicia convened a committee to think of what the memorial should include and where it should be housed. The Gordon Jewish Community Center agreed to donate land. Manuel Zeitlin offered his services pro bono and created a master plan for the memorial area. Paul Lebovitz designed the landscaping and Alex Limor created the focal sculpture for the site."
Tennessee Holocaust Memorial, Nashville: Under the leadership of Bernard Bernstein, the first Chair of the Tennessee Holocaust Commission, a living memorial was established on the grounds of the State Capitol in Nashville in 1986 to honor the survivors and martyrs of the Holocaust. The memorial consists of six cedars, native to Tennessee, which represent the six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust. A stone marker near the trees bears the following inscription:
“We Must Never Forget”
The people of Tennessee dedicate these six trees as a living memorial to the six million innocent Jewish Victims of the Nazi Holocaust (1939-1945).
Let all generations remember…so that a Holocaust shall never again occur.