New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston

The New England Holocaust Memorial was dedicated in 1995 and stands quietly just past Quincy Market. I'd been in that area a dozen times and didn't see this down the street, so when I looked up places not to miss in Boston and the memorial was listed, I added this important stop.

I would suggest visiting the website to read more about the memorial, but in short, it was built in remembrance of local Boston Holocaust survivors and of World War II itself.

The memorial is rightfully placed along the Freedom Trail of Boston.

As you approach the six pillars, you will see this:

"To remember their suffering is to recognize the danger and evil that are possible whenever one group persecutes another. As you walk this Freedom Trail, pause here to reflect on the consequences of a world in which there is no freedom—a world in which basic human rights are not protected. And know that wherever prejudice, discrimination, and victimization are tolerated, evil like the Holocaust can happen again."

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler. He spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. 

Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation: 

"They came first for the Communists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, 

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. 

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,

And I didn't speak out because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,

and by that time no one was left to speak up."