Originally, I hadn’t intended to share these photos of the Palm Desert Holocaust Memorial because I know how emotionally challenging they can be. In fact, I took relatively few photos during our visit. My wife, Kathy, took at least as many as I did. Some of these are hers; some are mine.
Palm Desert Holocaust Memorial — a sobering experience
A memorial to the holocaust of WWII lies in the midst of Palm Desert’s Civic Center park. In truth, we never even knew this memorial existed until our trip in November 2021. We’d driven over for the Thanksgiving weekend, needed to charge our LEAF, and had about an hour to spend exploring while the car and charger did their thing.
It was while walking the path around the park that we saw signs for the memorial. Curious, we followed the path. As we entered the area near the memorial, the atmosphere changed. The park itself is generally quiet, but this area was even quieter. More serene. Sobering.
Remembering the past—looking to the future
The first photo I took was the one above showing the entrance. At first, I didn’t realize what the curved posts with their hanging lamps signified. Between the posts are explanations—essentially a timeline—of the holocaust. So it wasn’t until I walked deeper into the memorial that the significance of those posts began to sink in.
I’m sure there is no wire of any kind connecting the posts for safety reasons, but if you look at the photo above, you’ll see the insulators. The photo above is a chilling reminder of a very dark purpose. If you’re able, imagine the electrically charged barbed wire strung between each of those. Their shape makes escape impossible. And as I stood before just one of those to take the photo, I had the barest inkling of what someone trapped inside of those would have felt.
The story told at the Palm Desert Holocaust Memorial is best summed up in this photo—a message to never forget and never let it happen again.
Did you see my last set of Friday Fotos? You can find them in my post, Coastal Views at Cabrillo National Monument. Click here to view more Friday Morning Post entries , or you can follow me on Instagram.
Thank you for sharing Terry,. This i so important for everyone to know that the Holocaust was real.
This was fascinating! I had no idea this existed. Thanks for sharing these powerful photos.
Thank you, Martha. That’s exactly the kind of moment it was when we found this. Very powerful
Powerful… and such a reminder in today’s world. I had no idea there was a memorial in Palm Desert.
Neither did we until we walked around the park. We were amazed.