Women’s Holocaust Memorial, Greensboro
The Women’s Holocaust Memorial depicts four women and a girl, possibly multiple generations of the same family, who had been ordered by their Nazi captors to strip to their undergarments before they were executed. The life-size sculpture is entitled “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots.” The sculpture was modeled from a photo taken by a Nazi photographer that showed a woman still wearing her boots at the Liepāja, Latvia massacre of Jews in 1941. As the sculptor Victoria Milstein interprets the photo the family matriarch had refused to take off her boots. The sculptor was inspired to create the memorial after a trip to Poland in 2018 where she visited the Auschwitz concentration camp and left wanting to document the journey of the women and children of the Holocaust. The memorial is also named in honor of Sofia Guralnik and Eva Weiner who saved their children by hiding them for two years from the Nazis. One of those children, Shelly Weiner, a Greensboro resident contributed to the memorial project. Across from the sculpture is a bronze representation of a camera that allows one to view the scene as did the Nazi photographer who took the photo. The memorial also has a multimedia component that allows visitors to scan QR codes to listen to stories of survivors and children of Holocaust survivors who have lived in Greensboro. The sculptor, Victoria Milstein, said the sculpture was meant to raise awareness of the Holocaust, racism and Anti-Semitism and “honor the strength and resilience of all women.” A dedication marker stands to the left and rear of the sculpture.
Memorial base: IN HONOR OF BRAVE MOTHERS EVA WEINER AND SOFIA GURALINK
Back of camera: THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE / IS NOT HATE / IT IS INDIFFERENCE
Memorial marker: SHE WOULDN’T TAKE HER BOOTS OFF / BY VICTORIA MILSTEIN / DEDICATED BY SHELLY WEINER AND RACHAEL / KIZHNERMAN TO HONOR THEIR BRAVE MOTHERS / EVA WEINER AND SOFIA GURALINK
ERECTED THIS 18TH DAY OF APRIL, 2023 / YOM HASHOAH / HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY / LEBAUR PARK, GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
THIS MEMORIAL MONUMENT SHALL STAND AS A / GIFT TO THE CITY OF GREENSBORO IN HONOR OF ALL / WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO ENDURED OR PERISHED IN / THE HOLOCAUST, AND IN REMEMBRANCE OF ALL / VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE. HERE IS A SPACE TO BEAR / WITNESS TO THE HUMANITY OF ALL PEOPLE.
Greensboro Parks and Recreation
April 18, 2023
36.075500 , -79.788000
View in Geobrowse
Carolina Bronze Sculpture, carolinabronze.com, (accessed August 25, 2023) Link
Chafin, Bethany. “Greensboro Artist Designs North Carolina’s First Women’s Holocaust Monument,” WFDD, (Greensboro, NC), March 17, 2021, (accessed August 15, 2023) Link
Harris, Karrington. “NC’s First Women’s Holocaust Memorial Unveiled in Greensboro, WFMY, (Greensboro, NC) April 19, 2023, (accessed August 15, 2023) Link
Stutz, Meredith. “Greensboro City Council Votes to Approve Holocaust Monument,” WXII12, (Winston-Salem, NC), December 3, 2020, (accessed August 15, 2023) Link
“Murder Story of Liepaja Jews in Skede,” Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, (accessed August 15, 2023) Link
“North Carolina: City of Greensboro Unveils New Memorial to Honor Victims of Genocide,” WXII12, (Winston-Salem, NC), April 19, 2023, (accessed August 21, 2023) Link
Yes
Bronze
Women of the Shoah
$725000 ($250,000 of which was appropriated by the NC General Assembly from the General Fund)
The dedication ceremony was held on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
On December 15, 1941 thousands of Jewish women and children were taken to a women’s prison in Liepāja, Latvia, forced to strip to their undergarments and executed in groups of ten. There are two other memorials in North Carolina to victims of the Holocaust, both in Charlotte: Children’s Holocaust Memorial and Holocaust Memorial.
The memorial is located in Carolyn’s Garden at LeBauer Park, a four acre park in downtown Greensboro, 208 N. Davie Street. The memorial stands next to the Greensboro Civil Rights Museum.
The sculpture stands in the park, surrounded by trees, bushes and flowers.
Know anything else about this monument that isn't mentioned here? If you have additional information on
this or any other monument in our collection fill out the form at the Contact Us link in the footer. Thank you.
