Holocaust Memorial, Judenplatz, Vienna, Austria
Rachel Whiteread
2000
Image
Whiteread’s memorial for Austrian Jewish victims of the Holocaust is located in Vienna in a square known as the Judenplatz. Sometimes called the Nameless Library, the steel and concrete structure has a façade meant to resemble shelves of books with their spines turned inward. Its double doors have no doorknobs or handles. Twelve feet high, twenty-four feet wide, and thirty-three feet long, the memorial also resembles a bunker and the artist confirmed that military fortifications were one inspiration for its design. Not meant to be beautiful, it was intended to provoke discomfort by making public a shame that some would prefer would remain hidden. The Judenplatz is also the site of a medieval synagogue that was burned down in 1420 during anti-Jewish violence. Recent excavations have revealed the remains of the synagogue below the square.
Credits
Courtesy of the artist and Luhring Augustine, New York.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 10.
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