Memorial Holocaust Center of the Jews from Macedonia

MEMORIAL HOLOCAUST CENTER OF THE JEWS FROM MACEDONIA

– From an idea to implementation –

     The Jewish Quarters in Skopje, settled far back in the 15th century, was located on the left side of the River Vardar, between the Stone Bridge and the Fortress (‘Kale’). Until the deportation of its residents, on that disastrous day of 11 March 1943, it was a vital settlement participating significantly in the economic, educational and cultural life of Skopje.

     Therefore, locating the structure of the Memorial Holocaust Center of the Jews from Macedonia in the core of the former Jewish Quarters has an outstanding symbolism not only for the holocaust victims, on the property of which it will be spread, but also for Skopje and Macedonia, which by building this Center shall pay an everlasting respect to their deported fellow citizens from Bitola and Stip, as well.

    The idea for such a memorial for the holocaust in Macedonia arises from the great erudite, scientist and humanist, Academy-member Ivan Dejanov, former president of the first Macedonian-Israeli Association of Memorial Holocaust Center of the Jews from Macedonia

    Friendship. This idea received big support and it has evolved conceptually. The concept of the Memorial Center began to become reality after the Law on Denationalization was enacted, which is the legal basis for the Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia, established on 23 April 2002 by a Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia.

    The Fund exists as a unique legal solution in Europe for protection of property rights of deported Jews who have no living heirs. In parallel with material memory, the Memorial Center shall carry out a long-term mission in presenting, educating and researching multiethnic societies, freeing them from any kind of danger from intolerance, chauvinism, anti-Semitism, aiming to build a society in which ethnic and religious diversity will present a civilization asset and a basis for further prosperity.

    Neither hatred, nor oblivion! Nobel Prize recipient Eli Vizel, with his idea: “Hatred brings nothing good, and oblivion is treachery and ungratefulness towards those who paid with their lives”, reflects the essence of the active memory of the destruction of human behavior, from which the future mission of the Memorial Center has been derived.

    Location and project program of Memorial Center

    The urban matrix of Skopje, more precisely that of the Jewish Quarters, was destroyed completely by the 1963 earthquake and also by the urbanization of the left coast of the River Vardar, in the subsequent process of reconstruction of Skopje. The new Detailed Urban Plan creates a new urban matrix on our location, with new contents in the form of a complex composed of a building for culture, a business facility and a hotel, in the vicinity of the St.

    Dimitrija Church. On the opposite side, along the Vardar Quay, the Urban Plan anticipates locations for a theatre and a business facility (building).

    The building of culture has acquired the role of the Memorial Holocaust Home of the Jews from Macedonia whereas the Business facility shall be a multi-purpose art-center with exhibition space.

    Out of the old matrix, the toponyms which are deeply impressed in the memory of the city population, such as David Street and the Synagogue, are part of the story, integrated into the general staging of the Memorial Center project.

    The Memorial Center is divided into 4 (four) functional units reflecting the events preceding the disastrous night of the deportation of the Jews from Macedonia to concentration camp Treblinka.

    Part I: Main entrance with multipurpose hall and permanent exhibition, as an introduction to the events, followed by documentary materials and the names of the victims.

    Part II: Connecting the memory of the toponym of David Street in peacetime, then painful expectations, the disastrous night and the silence; short stay at the Skopje Tobacco factory and transport to the camp of death! In this part, the history and culture of the Jews from Macedonia will be presented as an exhibition, through archaeological, ethnological and other kinds of museum exhibits.

    Part III: People is an indestructible category! Survivors of the Jewish Community with great optimism and strong will involved themselves into the resistance movement until evil was conquered. The third part, placed at the third level, is a space for research, scientific analysis and education.

    Part IV: Office entrance with premises for administration and common use, through the three levels of the building (from the South).

DESIGNERS
AUTHOR: Mirko Andovski, grad.eng.arch.
CO-AUTHOR: Nikola Bo{ku, grad.eng.arch.
CONSULTANTS: Mimoza Tomi}, grad.eng.arch.
                                 Jasminka Nami~eva, grad.eng.arch.
ASSOCIATES: Aleksandar Andovski, grad.eng.arch. 

 
 
FONDO DE HOLOCAUSTO DE LOS JUDÍOS DE MACEDONIA
Samoilova 2, 1000 Skopje, R. Macedonia
Tel: +389 2 31 22 697  +389 71 399 012
holocaustfund@gmail.com