Ohio memorial at Statehouse honors Holocaust victims and survivors, Nazi death camp liberators

Holocaust liberator Donald Jakeway, Sr. and Holocaust survivor Barbara Turkeltaub stand quietly during a dedication ceremony for the Holocaust and Liberators Memorial at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio on Monday, June 2, 2014. The $2 million memorial was created by Polish-born artist-architect Daniel Libeskind. (AP Photo/Mike Munden)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Attendees file past the newly dedicated Holocaust and Liberators Memorial today at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

COLUMBUS — Ohio has dedicated a memorial at the Statehouse honoring victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

State officials and others spoke today of the survivors and World War II veterans who helped liberate Nazi death camps during a ceremony marking the memorial’s completion.

Architect Daniel Libeskind, the son of Holocaust survivors, designed the $2.1 million memorial. It was mostly paid for by private funds, though the state paid for site preparations.

The 18-foot-tall Holocaust and Liberators Memorial includes panels positioned to reveal a broken, six-pointed Star of David.

In 2011, Gov. John Kasich proposed building a memorial that he said could teach people about man’s inhumanity to man.

The former leader of a panel overseeing the Ohio Capitol had objected to a religious symbol on the grounds.