Peoria Holocaust Memorial Button Project

USA Today - Around The US
Tuesday April 29th 2003

Printed on April 29th
Illinois: Peoria -- Eleven million buttons form the centerpiece for Peoria's new Holocaust memorial. The buttons represent the 6 million Jews and 5 million others killed during the Nazi regime. They fill more than 20 glass containers outside the Shoppes at Grand Prairie, a new mall on Peoria's west side. The buttons were collected and hand counted over nine months. They were donated from nearly every state as well as Canada, Singapore, China and the Virgin Islands. 

Chicago Sun Times - Peoria tribute to Holocaust victims is on the button
Sunday April 27th 2003

Printed April 26, 2003
Peoria tribute to Holocaust victims is on the button
BY EVELYN VOGEL

Envision one clothing button and then imagine 6 million more. Now think of another single button and imagine 5 million more. As you form this picture in your mind of 11 million buttons, you will begin to see a part of the new Peoria Holocaust Memorial.

It all began less than two years ago when a small group of people in the Peoria area wanted to honor the memory of those who perished during the Holocaust and to teach the consequences of prejudice, racism, hatred and bigotry. In Peoria, across the river from a nationally known white supremacist, the message of tolerance needed to be heard. But we never expected that the voices carrying that message would be heard all over this country and outside the United States.

The first challenge was how to visually show the number of victims of the Holocaust. Thus, under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Peoria, came the Button Project: the idea of using the simple button. Its circular shape represents the cycle of life. Once clothes were unbuttoned at the gates of the concentration camps, people were left vulnerable. As the fabric unraveled and became a pile of threads, the buttons endured. But most important is that each victim was unique, and so too are the buttons. So we began collecting 6 million buttons to represent each of the Jews murdered, and an additional 5 million buttons to represent each of the ''enemies of the state'' who perished under Nazi rule.

A Web site ( www.buttonproject.com ) was set up, and buttons arrived from 47 states and five countries. It was decided that each button would be counted by hand, because each one represents a single life. People appeared each day offering to help. Our small Jewish community had the help of a diverse group of people. One by one, the people came, and one by one, each button was counted. As we counted buttons and began to raise funds to build a memorial, state Sen. Lisa Madigan, state Rep. Ricca Slone (D-Peoria), state Comptroller Dan Hynes and Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood showed their support to send the message of tolerance.

Next, the idea came to place these buttons in glass sculptures at an outdoor mall then under construction in Peoria. The 6 million Jews would be remembered by placing 6 million buttons in 18 glass pillars, each in the shape of the Star of David. Eighteen is symbolic in Judaism for the word ''Chai,'' which means life. The 18 pillars are arranged in two rows to symbolize the concentration camp selection: Going to the left or right could mean the difference between life and death.

The 5 million enemies of the state are represented by the buttons in five triangles. The triangles are symbolic of the shape of the badges worn by the enemies of the state, including political and religious leaders, Roma gypsies, Serbians, Catholics, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, the trade unionists, alcoholics and the handicapped.

The Peoria Holocaust Memorial was dedicated on April 9. Next week is Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Here in Central Illinois, we remember those whose voices were silenced.

As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, I visit the memorial often and find it difficult to leave. I listen to what other visitors say and am overwhelmed by their reactions. They look at the exhibit, they read the stories on the kiosks, and they walk away as different people than when they first approached the memorial. Sometimes tears are visible, but almost always you feel their compassion as they try to grasp what is in front of them.

This memorial is an ongoing effort to raise funds for education programs and additions to the site, so our work continues. However, I also realize the importance of what we have built here in Peoria. It is something to see and experience. Tolerance is playing in Peoria.

Evelyn Vogel is a volunteer with the Peoria Holocaust Memorial Button Project.  

Peoria Journal Star - Buttons fitting memorial to Holocaust victims
Sunday April 27th 2003

Printed April 27, 2003

It isn?t the kind of idea that seems, shall we say, natural: To place a memorial to the victims of the 20th century?s most heinous crime in the middle of the quintessential American city?s newest place to shop.

But the Holocaust Memorial Button Project works, and it alone is worth a trip to the Shoppes at Grand Prairie, whether one lives or loathes to shop. Each of the 11 million buttons arrayed in a series of glass cases represents one life lost in the Holocaust.

Members of Peoria?s Jewish Federation came up with the idea of collecting buttons after considering and rejecting other methods of remembrance. They thought about stringing flags on a clothesline, for example, but changed their minds when they realized the line would have to be strung to Bloomington. Buttons don?t take up much space. Buttons don?t deteriorate. Buttons symbolize the vulnerability victims must have felt when they were stripped of everything they had in life, including the clothes that covered them.

The buttons are supposed to teach the power of evil, bear witness to the dead and provide a simple vehicle for telling the story of the Holocaust even when no survivors, perpetrators or liberators are alive to verify the details. (The Jewish Federation?s effort to compile and preserve memories of local Holocaust victims is a more thorough historical project.)

The memorial?s success comes from the ghastly size of the display necessary to show 11 million tiny buttons. It takes 23 cases, the tallest ones five feet high, to hold symbols of individual lives that may be a mere quarter-inch wide - shirt-button size. If the dead could not be held by the handful, but could somehow be depicted in 11 million human-size statues, they would fill the state of Illinois in nearly the same proportion its present population does.

It?s curious how stuffing small symbols into glass containers, hundreds of thousands to the foot, dramatizes so well the loss of 11 million souls. Curious, too, how it seems right that frustrated shoppers should be able to pause for perspective on what matters (life itself and love) and what, in the end, does not (the "Liz" suit you would love to have but cannot afford). Developer Diane Oberhelman?s decision to offer space at the shopping center for this display was one-fifth genius and four-fifths inspiration.

Today the Jewish Federation will mark its annual Holocaust observance with a reading of the names of some of the children who died in those unforgivable years. It will take place from 1 to 2 p.m. at the shopping center, near this powerful symbol of giggles lost.

The buttons on display represent donations from 47 states and five countries, and the efforts of thousands of retirees, schoolchildren and other volunteers as far away as Oklahoma to count and bag them. They worked for more than a year at gathering and tabulating fingernail-sized symbols of those murdered in such quantity that the task took twelve.
 

Choosing to Act!
Saturday April 19th 2003

The Dali Lama said, "It is not enough to be compassionate, you must act!" Dedicated to NEVER forget what so few have lived to tell, so many have "chosen to act" unselfishly giving of your time, energy, and love to make our Peoria Holocaust Memorial (The Button Project) at the Shoppes of Grand Prairie, a reality.

All who "choose to act," realized that the 11 million voices needed to be honored… they knew the voices of the 6 million Jews and 5 million enemies of the state, cried for the world to remember the evils that were created by racism, bigotry, and intolerance.

Thousands chose to act from all over the United States, as well as throughout 5 countries. So many of you "chose" to help honor, to give your respect, and to proclaim you too would never forget! You donated buttons, and gave endless hours to count, while teaching our children the lessons of the Holocaust. You gave of you labor, materials, finances, and your heart to make the Holocaust Memorial a Peoria landmark achievement.

A special thank goes out to the members of the media who have given us their unending support throughout these past two years. To WMBD, WEEK, WHOI, the Peoria Journal Star and the Times Observer who "chose to act" dedicating themselves to promoting tolerance, diversity and Holocaust education for our community.

Once again, my thanks to everyone in our community who remembered the 6 million Jews and the 5 million enemies of the state whose lives were extinguished because of hatred, and the evils of racism. We hope this Memorial will be a remembrance to all to "choose to act"-- insuring that no one ever again stands silently, while atrocities occur again in our world

Margaret Mead said—NEVER DOUBT THAT A SMALL GROUP OF THOUGHTFUL COMMITTED CITIZENS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD—INDEED IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT EVER HAS! As committed citizens, who chose to act, you have helped us change our world!

If you have not already done so, please take time to view our Holocaust Memorial at the Shoppes of Grand Prairie. Remember that each button represents a life that was extinguished… and imagine… just for a moment how that life could have helped change our world.

Dr. Joy Miller
Chairperson Peoria Holocaust Memorial Button Project/Peoria Holocaust Memorial

A remarkable story from a counter

Tuesday April 23rd 2002

By DeWayne Bartels /Times Newspapers

I woke up Sunday in a bad mood. An inconsiderate neighbor having a party blared his stereo until early Sunday. Our street looked like a used car parking lot as people came and went
to the party. My quality of life was being interfered with and I didn't like it. It occurred to me though, later Sunday, that I had little to complain about when it comes to quality of life. That came to me as I sat in the conference room of Lakeview Museum. I was in the conference room with more that a dozen other people counting buttons for the Button Project, an effort seeking to collect 11 million buttons - six million buttons to commemorate the Jews killed by the Nazis and five million more to recognize the enemies of the state exterminated by the Nazis. The buttons will be incorporated into sculptures to be on display at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie. In recent weeks the Jewish Federation of Peoria has received millions of buttons for the effort, requiring a massive counting effort. A friend asked me to help count. It seemed like a worthwhile effort, even if I had no religious or cultural connection to this effort.
As I counted Dorian Lasiane sat next to me, counting a bag of large red buttons. Each of the buttons were quite similar. There was something profound in that. Those buttons represented Jews. It occurred to me that those buttons so similar and unremarkable could represent the way the Nazis saw Jews - plain, unimportant, the same. On the other hand, the buttons I was counting were varied. These buttons were the true representation of those exterminated by the Nazis. I had large and tiny buttons. I had white, black, gray, blue and green buttons. Some were flat and others bulbous. Some had texture, some felt oily. These buttons were unique, just like each of those Jews and non-Jews killed by the Nazis.
I kept counting.
I kept thinking.
The others in the room did the same.
Like that party the night before, this effort had a sound. It did not have the beat of music, but it had a pattern, like any machine. This was a machine of remembrance. It was a low sound. It consisted of clicks as buttons hit the table. It had the sound of plastic bags being zipped shut. It had the sound of people cheering in victory as the count passed 40,000, then 101,000 and finally past 170,000 as I left. Outside of Lakeview Museum flowers bloomed under a very warm sun. The hope that comes with spring was in the air. I couldn't help but wonder if those so many years ago who were held by the Nazis in concentration camps had felt hope at the changing of the seasons when warmth returned. Maybe they did, maybe not.
But, there is hope that this project will bring remembrance and with it a lesson in the importance of recognizing the value of every human life. That hope makes this a profoundly important project, one that Peoria has reason to be very proud of.