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Construction of the Memorial

Treister said he began the design of the Memorial with “no preconceptions as to its form, moved only by the indelible image of a human tragedy unparalleled in the history of humankind.” In this photo, Treister sculpts part of a model out of clay. It took

Treister said he began the design of the Memorial with “no preconceptions as to its form, moved only by the indelible image of a human tragedy unparalleled in the history of humankind.” In this photo, Treister sculpts part of a model out of clay. It took about one year to produce the initial 17-feet-high clay model—one third of the final size. Mexico City, 1987.

Treister said he began the design of the Memorial with “no preconceptions as to its form, moved only by the indelible image of a human tragedy unparalleled in the history of humankind.” In this photo, Treister sculpts part of a model out of clay. It took
Treister works on one of the 130 full-size bronze figures that cling to the skin of the arm and stand around its base, painstakingly and individually cast in wax. Mexico City, 1988.
Treister added various colors to the sculptures, giving them each a unique patina. By using shades of blue, green, brown, gold and orange, every figure is different, every face distinctive. Mexico City, 1989.
The entire arm was built in five giant, interlocking slices. This assemblage, when cast and finished, was loaded onto a caravan of trucks for a long pilgrimage to its permanent home in Miami Beach. Mexico City, 1988.
The Memorial’s sculptures were initially to be cast in a Taiwanese foundry, but because of a change in currency valuations, the project in Taipei had to be abandoned, and the work was transferred to Mexico City’s Fundicion Artistica. Giant sections of the
The hand is enlarged full-size in plaster. Mexico City, 1988.
Sixteen craftsmen from the Mexican foundry spent two months in Miami Beach assembling the final work. Miami Beach, 1989.
The entire arm was built in five giant, interlocking slices. This assemblage, when cast and finished, was loaded onto a caravan of trucks for a long pilgrimage to its permanent home in Miami Beach. Mexico City, 1988.
Treister said the arm represents his portrayal of a scene from hell, frozen in bronze. A giant outstretched arm, marked with a Nazi prisoner’s tattoo, rises from the earth; the final reaching out of a dying person. The hand, almost in place. Miami Beach,