PEORIA MAGAZINE August 2023

S P O T L I G H T

ONE … BUTTON … AT … A … TIME Two decades later, the mission behind Peoria’s Holocaust Memorial and its 11 million buttons is as critical as ever

BY MONICA VEST WHEELER

Jillian Sams, the great-granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, drops in one of the final buttons on dedication day, April 23, 2017, with the help of her mother, Rachel Sams, the granddaughter of a survivor

A t a time of political and ideo logical chaos in the United States, the mission of the Peoria Holocaust Memorial — tolerance, communication, education — intensifies by the day. The Memorial, located at Peoria Riverfront Museum, marks its 20th anniversary this year after its debut in 2003 at the Shoppes at Grand Prairie. Each of the 6 million buttons encased in glass stars represents a Jewish life lost to hatred during the Nazi atrocities of World War II. Another 5 million buttons in glass triangles note the Nazis’ other victims. But the 6 million stand out in symbol izing one of the most horrific campaigns in human history to try to destroy an entire group of people, an entire religion. Ordinary men, women and children were murdered only because they were born Jewish. And this unique memorial is in … Peoria, Illinois? Why? How?

NEVER FORGET. NEVER AGAIN

6 million victims and educate people about the horrors of the Holocaust. Dr. Joy Miller, another co-chair of the 2003 project, said a primary mission was to teach the enormity of the Holo caust in a way that even children could grasp: One button represented one life. In her role as a teacher, the late Charley Armstrong of Galesburg helped refine the selection of buttons: Each is unique as is a person, they hold things together as many individuals tried to hold their families together, they were what remained on the clothes left behind by victims in the camps. They represented the circle of life. A SLOW START As of July 15, 2001, just 830 buttons had been gathered. It looked daunting. Diane Wetchler, president of the Federation at the time, wondered how they’d ever reach the goal.

The journey down memory lane was the work of a group of local individuals who wanted to emphasize the messages of “never again” and “never forget.” Evelyn Vogel, a granddaughter of Ho locaust victims and co-chair of the 2003 project, said when she moved to Peoria, her family donated a plaque in memory of the Holocaust, coinciding with a son’s bar mitzvah in 1990. But she and others realized that wasn’t enough to com memorate and educate others about this monstrous chapter in human history. The stories of survivors who had set tled in the area were collected. Under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Peoria and Executive Director Susan Katz, a dedicated core of volunteers created the “Button Project,” an ambi tious effort to collect at least 6 million buttons to remember and honor the

66 JULY 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE