Holocaust Education Center in Fukuyama



Holocaust Education Center


The Holocaust Education Center stands quietly on the outskirts of Fukuyama City. The first impression on the building personally was it looked pure and peaceful filled with subtle light. Inside, the white stairs unassumingly invite you upwards (Details of the stairs should be paid attention to). But before going upstairs, visitors are guided into an auditorium, where a 15-minute-long introduction film, either in Japanese or English, is aired after the roll curtains are pulled down over a large expanse of glass  window facing the rose garden. The roses, Souvenir d'Anne Frank, were bred and dedicated to Anne Frank who enriched her short life by keeping a diary for two years before she and the family were arrested and taken to Nazi concentration camps. The garden is cozy with flowers, round tables probably to sit down on, and the statue of Anne, especially around May when the roses are in bloom, gradually changing colors from orange to pink.

On the first floor, the lobby serves as a library with books, audio media, tables, and chairs (the furniture is well-designed). There’s a children’s library too, where kids take off their shoes at the round door to the library, go in, and spend their time freely. Nearby is a large pane of glass with symbolic stained glass pieces of butterflies and a poem composed by a child in the ghetto.

The Butterfly

The last, the very last,
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
against a white stone.

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly way up high.
It went away I'm sure because it wished to
kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live here,
in the ghetto.

 

Butterfly stained glass



  

The second floor is the display area. The route is laid out properly. The replica of Anne’s hiding room makes you feel a little girl’s presence. An old small shoe left after the child’s death touches your heart and your thought would be extended to 1.5 million children who perished in the holocaust.

The HEC is made beautiful with the devoted effort of the architect and his associates and of course the dedication of pastor OTSUKA Makoto who met Anne’s father and was determined to let the children and people know about the holocaust so that we would remember the sacrifice and study the history and human nature, and eventually embrace each other with love.

The architect MAEDA Keisuke and the client OTSUKA Makoto were awarded the Dedalo Minosse International Prize in 2008. The prize is given to the architects aged 40 or younger due to their high-quality work and their clients for commissioning buildings. Click here to go to the Dedalo Minosse web site to read the evaluation on the HEC.

The HEC building uses geothermal energy as an attempt to be friendly to the earth.

 

Children's library

  

Stairs to the upper floor



Backside of the HEC and the garden