Letter to the Editor

The Opinion Pages

Letters

Holocaust Remembrance Monument: Roger Williams Park Zoo

Published November 5, 2010

To the Editor:

               My name is Ashley Herskowitz and I am writing to you on behalf of my concern for the lack of Holocaust Remembrance monuments in Rhode Island.   I am a family member to two Holocaust Survivors and I would thoroughly enjoy having a place to go to honor my family.  My grandparents were victims of Auschwitz and Buchenwald Concentration Camps.  Although they passed away a few years back, I would benefit from having a memorial site close by.  I am a student at the University of Rhode Island and on days like their birthdays I feel I don’t have a place to go to honor them.  Advocating for this monument would be something all of us in this community could be proud of.  The park already has large revenue and adding this monument would only increase the population of people who visit. After a brief interview with two URI Seniors, I received some feedback of how they felt about this.  These two students were of Jewish and Christian faith, and both felt this would be a great idea.  Having survived the holocaust doesn’t mean you had to be Jewish, which I think is a lot of the confusion and problem in trying to raise awareness.  I feel with a publication in the Providence Journal we could get some feedback on this idea from all residents of Rhode Island.  As a young adult I feel like we need to continue the awareness and education of this part of history in order to avoid it ever happening again.  With this monument, it will serve as the small part Rhode Island can do to honor those we lost.  It is made known to me that many colleges in Rhode Island have museums remembering the Holocaust, but I have yet to see an actual monument.  Though it’s not a recent tragedy, it still makes up a large portion of America history.   Since children are predominantly the visitors of the zoo, seeing this monument will entice there interest in what it means.  Teaching children of the Holocaust at a young age is an encouraging way to get them involved.  I appreaciate you taking a moment of your to take this into consideration.

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                    Ashley Herskowitz

                                                                                    Advocate for the Holocaust Monument