PvH Monument Jewish victims garden city hall Sneek

Monument in memory of the Jewish victims

In the garden of the Town Hall is an arched memorial stone commemorating the Jewish victims of the Second World War in Sneek. In consultation with representatives of Sneek's former Jewish community, the stone was initially placed in the Wijde Burgstraat, next to the star-shaped monument commemorating the synagogue. The monument was unveiled on June 19, 1995 by Mr. Ernst Pino, one of the few members of the Sneker Pino family who survived the Second World War. Most of his relatives perished in the death camps of Auschwitz and Sobibor. During the ceremony marking the unveiling, Rabbi J.S. Jacobs said: The names of the people we commemorate here are not those of war victims in the usual sense of the word. They are victims of murder. Murder caused by racism that broke all the norms of a civilized society. I hope that everyone who passes by here and reads the names will be aware of this distinction, and in this awareness will fight every racism that exists in the world in its own way.

Wide Burg Street did not, in retrospect, turn out to be a suitable place for the monument. Unaware of its significance, the arched low stone was often used as a bench or bicycle support. This prompted the city council, in consultation with representatives of Sneek's former Jewish community, to look for another place for the monument. The choice fell on the garden of the town hall: an area of silence in the center of town that is accessible to everyone during the day and screened off at night. The relocation was carried out in the spring of 2002. In 2020, a redesign of the garden relocated the monument again.