About the Centre

Memorial Gardens

Outside the Centre’s main building, there is over an acre of beautifully landscaped memorial gardens which provide an important counterpoint to the historical museum. The gardens provide space for reflection and places for individuals to remember their families. They allow visitors to sit in the midst of a living, growing world and absorb the demanding challenge that the Centre presents.

“The gardens provide both testimony and healing – important because it is a traumatic experience to immerse oneself in this issue.”

Aostre Johnson, Assistant Professor of Education, St Michael’s College, USA

Rose Garden

The memorial gardens contain a number of different areas, including a beautiful rose garden that has become a place of pilgrimage in its own right. Over 800 visitors to the Centre, many of them survivors and their families, have planted roses in memory of the victims. For many, it is the only place where the names of their parents and siblings are permanently inscribed.

“I always find it a haven of peace and find consolation in the beautiful gardens; it was a real joy to catch the roses at their best, filling the air with their sweet perfume.”

Hana Eardley, Visitor

Sculpture and Stained Glass

The gardens also contain a range of sculptures created by artists who were all survivors. Among the most striking are two commemorative pieces fashioned by the well known sculptor Naomi Blake and Doreen Kern’s depiction of Anne Frank, which particularly resonates with many of the younger visitors.

Stained-glass windows have also been created by artists Roman Halter and Moshe Galili in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.