Women of the Shoah
Jewish Placemaking
“She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”
In Liepāja, Latvia, on December 15, 1941, thousands of Jewish women and children were taken to the women’s prison where they were forced to stripped and shot dead in groups of 10. Many of the victims were photographed in their final moments by a Nazi photographer. One such photograph serves as the inspiration for the Monument, “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots.”
The Monument is North Carolina’s first Women’s Holocaust memorial. This original sculpture by artist Victoria Milstein honors the strength and resilience of all women. It is beautifully situated in Greensboro’s LeBauer Park, becoming a “place-making” community experience for all.
The monument is named in honor of Eva Weiner and Sofia Guralnik, the brave women who saved their children, Shelly Weiner and Raya Kizhnerman, by hiding them in Nazi-occupied Poland for almost two years. Shelly, now a resident of Greensboro, has graciously contributed the lead gift that has enabled this project to proceed.
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY WAY OF LEARNING THROUGH
1. An on-site tour of the Holocaust Memorial Monument “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots.”
2. The full-length film “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”
3. High school curriculum developed by the Holocaust Council of North Carolina with the artist.
4. Placemaking initiates on-site at the memorial.
The Story of the Monument
“She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”
Documentary Trailer
Victoria Milstein
The Artist
Isaac Herzog
President of Israel
Dani Dayan
Yad Vashem Chairman
Kathy Manning
U.S. Representative
The Liepāja Massacre
In Latvia on Monday, Dec. 15, 1941, thousands of Jewish women, and children were taken to the women’s prison in Liepāja. From there, in the freezing cold, they were marched to a nearby beach called Skede, forced to strip to their underclothes, taken to the edge of a trench and shot dead in groups of 10. Many of the victims were photographed in their final moments by a Nazi photographer. One such photograph serves as the basis for the Women of the Shoah – Jewish Placemaking monument “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”.
“She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”
IN HONOR OF BRAVE MOTHERS EVA WEINER AND SOFIA GURALNIK
North Carolina’s first and only women’s Holocaust monument, an original sculpture by artist Victoria Milstein, honors the strength and resilience of all women. The Monument is a community placemaking experience in Greensboro, N.C. for the public not only to remember the Holocaust but to have a place for impactful Holocaust education. Honoring those who perished, the Monument conveys a powerful statement against the murder of women and children, antisemitism, genocide and all hate. The Monument is art that requires social engagement and the participation of its audience: the act of looking through the camera, where the spectator becomes a witness, to see and feel the opposite of what the Nazi photographer was documenting. The Monument “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”, the memorial of the December 15th, 1941 Liepāja massacre, is a voice for women and children which says …. We will put our boots on…. We will resist …. We will be the witness …. Arm in arm… We will build a more just society for all communities.