LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The first Holocaust memorial plaza in Nevada is set to open to the public Sunday.
The site took about six months to come together, and organizers say they hope it will move to touch survivors and the Southern Nevada community.
Esther Finder is the president and founder of Generations of the Shoah – Nevada and believes the new memorial plaza could bring closure to the families of some of the victims.
“I think this will be an important place for those of us in the survivor community who don’t know where our loved ones were buried or ashes may lie,” she tells 8 News Now.
Finder is a holocaust survivor descendant and says the new site is an area where many can come to reflect.
“My parents were killed here. They were executed, murder. They were put in the back of a sealed truck and the exhaust of the truck was pumped in the truck and they drove around until the people were dead. That’s how my grandparents were killed,” she added.
Jay Poster with King David’s Memorial Chapel and Cemetery near Robindale and Eastern says the site is symbolic from a crumbling brick wall with steel darts to the six plaques identifying the extermination camps where so many were killed.
“Inside the plaza along the Star of David walls is the entire history,” Poster said.
He adds that it is a grim reflection of what is happening in Ukraine.
“All you need to do is look at what’s happening in the world today and you can see the destruction that war does to villages and towns, he tells 8 News Now.
Rabbi Sanford Akselrad says the memorial will also include a symbolic touch of soil from six extermination camps.
“That soil is going to be buried here beneath the plaques of the termination camps and as school children come here to learn they are going to be standing on that same dust where at one-time Jews went to their deaths. Now Jews come to learn,” he added.
A streaming option will be available for those interested in watching the official opening of the Holocaust memorial on Sunday from their homes.
The public is also invited to attend the official opening in person, it will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 24.
The Holocaust Memorial Plaza will be available for both residents and tourists to visit during the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, visitors can call 7020-464-8570.
The memorial is located on the grounds of the King David Memorial Chapel and Cemetery at 2697 East Eldorado Lane near Eastern Avenue and Warm Springs Road.
