“She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”
North Carolina’s Women’s Holocaust Memorial Monument
In Liepāja, Latvia, on December 15, 1941, thousands of Jewish women and children were taken to the women’s prison where they were forced to strip to their underclothes and shot dead in groups of 10. Many of the victims were photographed in their final moments by a Nazi photographer. One such photograph serves as the inspiration for the Monument, “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots.”
The Monument will be North Carolina’s first Women’s Holocaust memorial. This original sculpture by artist Victoria Milstein will honor the strength and resilience of all women. It will be beautifully situated in Greensboro’s LeBauer Park, becoming a “place-making” community experience for all.
The monument is being named in honor of Eva Weiner and Sofia Guralnik, the brave women who saved their children, Shelly Weiner and Raya Kizhnerman, by hiding them in Nazi-occupied Poland for almost two years. Shelly, now a resident of Greenboro, has graciously contributed the lead gift that has enabled this project to proceed.
The Story of the Monument
The Liepāja Massacre
In Latvia on Monday, Dec. 15, 1941, thousands of Jewish women, and children were taken to the women’s prison in Liepāja. From there, in the freezing cold, they were marched to a nearby beach called Skede, forced to strip to their underclothes, taken to the edge of a trench and shot dead in groups of 10. Many of the victims were photographed in their final moments by a Nazi photographer. One such photograph serves as the basis for the Women of the Shoah – Jewish Placemaking monument “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”.
Clay model ready for bronzing
“She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”
In Honor of Brave Mothers EVA WEINER and SOFIA GURAlNIK
North Carolina’s first and only women’s Holocaust monument, an original sculpture by artist Victoria Milstein, will honor the strength and resilience of all women. The Monument will be a community placemaking experience in Greensboro, NC for the public not only to remember the Holocaust but to have a place for impactful Holocaust education. Honoring those who perished, the Monument will convey a powerful statement against the murder of women and children, antisemitism, genocide and all hate. The Monument will be art that requires social engagement and the participation of its audience: the act of looking through the camera, where the spectator becomes a witness, to see and feel the opposite of what the Nazi photographer was documenting. The Monument “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”, the memorial of the December 15th, 1941 Liepāja massacre, is a voice for women and children
which says …. We will put our boots on…. We will resist …. We will be the witness …. Arm in arm… We will build a more just society for all communities.
Women of the Shoah
Women of the Shoah engages the community, Holocaust survivors, and their families to build this memorial monument to educate and transform our perspective on the Holocaust, antisemitism, racism, and the genocide of women and children.
News & Events
Women of the Shoah Blog
Suddenly a local Holocaust memorial becomes more topical
Originally published in the Greensboro News & Record Written by Allen Johnson Larger than life, the clay sculpture was surprisingly soft to the touch, as if the doomed women it recreated were alive. If only ... Created by a Greensboro artist, Victoria Carlin...
‘It spoke to me’: Greensboro artist sculpts downtown Holocaust memorial based on picture of women before Nazis massacred them
Originally published in the Greensboro News & Record Written By Dawn Kane GREENSBORO — The 1941 photograph shows four women and a little girl standing arm in arm, moments before they were murdered by the Nazis. They had been told to strip to their underwear in the...
WFDD: Greensboro Artist Designs North Carolina’s First Women’s Holocaust Monument
A Greensboro-based artist has designed North Carolina’s first women’s holocaust monument. City Council has approved the project which will be placed in Greensboro’s LeBauer Park.
Fox 8’s Buckley Report
March 16, 2021North Carolina’s First holocaust memorial dedicated to women set to be displayed in LaBauer Park WGHP Fox 8 News by Bob BuckleyGREENSBORO, N.C. — As Victoria Milstein works on her latest project, she knows it is much more than just art. “We’re the...
March of the Living Alumni Spotlight: Victoria Milstein
March 1, 2021March of the Living Alumni Spotlight: Victoria Milstein (’18), Mid Atlantic, USA from International March of the Living"This week we are proud to feature Victoria Milstein, an alumna from the Mid Atlantic delegation of the March of the Living. Inspired...
Allen Johnson: Slowly, our memorials are beginning to reflect us all
To this day some people insist it never happened. Others prefer to repress the memory of it, as if not talking about it, or learning from it, will wash away its awful stain on humanity… As for the broader landscape, a fuller picture of our history is starting, slowly, to be reflected in parks and on town squares.
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