Never Too Late to Remember

This astute, engrossing and comprehensive analysis by Saidel (Outraged Conscience: Seekers of Justice for Nazi War Criminals in America) details the difficult struggle begun in 1947 to build a memorial in New York City to commemorate the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. Although the city has the largest population of Jewish residents and Holocaust survivors in the U.S., internal conflicts within the Jewish community, as well as the anti-Semitism spurred by red-baiting during the 1950s, defeated early efforts to build a memorial. During the 1970s, a new initiative was launched that had the support of President Carter, Governor Cuomo and N.Y.C. Mayor Koch, all of whom, according to Saidel, politicized the memorial either to gain favor with Jewish voters (Carter and Koch) or to forge advantageous real estate deals (Cuomo), which delayed construction. The memorial is now being built in Battery Park City and is scheduled to open in 1997. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)