History of the Foundation
A New Chapter
Beginning in 2006, the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation (PHRF) spearheaded efforts to preserve the existing monument and reactivate the site for enhanced public access and education. After significant planning and early fundraising, PHRF engaged award-winning architecture and design firm Wallace, Roberts & Todd (WRT) and assembled a world-class group of content advisors and Philadelphia civic and corporate leaders to redesign, reconstruct, and expand the existing site of the Monument into the Holocaust Memorial Plaza. Construction at the site began in the winter of 2017 and was completed in October 2018.
GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY, NOVEMBER 28, 2017 AND CONSTRUCTION.
Alan Horwitz, Lead Donor
Alan Horwitz
The name of the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza honors the generous contribution of the project’s lead donor, Alan Horwitz, and, in memorium, Mr. Horwitz’s friend and mentor, Sam Wasserman, a Holocaust survivor.
Sam Wasserman’s story of Holocaust survival is one of both tragedy and hope. He was imprisoned by the Nazis in 1942 at Sobibor in Poland, where he lost his first wife and two children. Sam was kept alive and forced into daily labor until, one day, he escaped during an organized rebellion. He then became a partisan and fought against the Nazi regime. Wounded in battle, he was sent to a hospital where he met is second wife, Sophie, with whom he began a new family that first emigrated to Israel, and then the United States.
As the Wasserman family settled down in Philadelphia, they became friends with the Horwitz family. Alan Horwitz, who was just a boy at the time, had lost his father, and Sam Wasserman became his mentor and surrogate father. In addition to playing an important role in Alan’s life, Sam and Sophie Wasserman raised a family that now has three new generations, including grandson David Adelman, the Board Chair of the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation.
Alan Horwitz’s generous gift honors Sam Wasserman’s values of hope, remembrance, and resilience through the creation of a public memorial space.
Opening Ceremony
On Monday, October 22, 2018, the Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation hosted an Opening Ceremony for the new, state-of-the-art Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza on the Ben Franklin Parkway at 16th Street. Approximately 400 people attended the event, including over twenty Holocaust survivors. After remarks by PHRF Board Members, public officials, and a Holocaust survivor, the ribbon cutting commenced and the Memorial Plaza officially opened to the public. Its overall design and specific interpretive features help visitors to learn, reflect, and remember.
Timeline of Key Events
1964-2003
The Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs is erected at the head of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in 1964. While the site around the Monument becomes a place for commemoration during the annual Yom HaShoah events, the park is otherwise not used due to poor design and lack of proper park management.
2004-2015
The Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation (PHRF) is founded in 2004 to explore how to enhance the site around the Monument for improved public access and education. PHRF engages Holocaust scholars and design partners to determine the best means of enhancing the memorial site.
2016–2017
PHRF leads a capital campaign and engages award-winning architecture and design firm Wallace, Roberts, & Todd. Construction begins at the site in late 2017. PHRF also engages the USC Shoah Foundation to develop educational technology for the new site.
2018
The new Memorial Plaza opens to the public in October 2018. The IWalk app is released in a beta version. Teacher trainings and school group visits begin.
2020
Two additional IWalk tours are added to the site. PHRF develops lesson plans and other educational content to respond to the emerging needs of the teacher community. PHRF begins a partnership with the School District of Philadelphia for professional developments.
2022-2025
PHRF partners with Mural Arts Philadelphia to create a very large, Holocaust-themed mural for the Memorial Plaza. Mural installation is expected in 2025.