A state Holocaust memorial proposed as part of a new Sandy Springs “Cultural Center” may be one of two such memorials, with the other in downtown Atlanta.
A resolution passed by the state legislature in 2018 mandated the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust to fundraise for and build a memorial. Late last year, the city of Sandy Springs unveiled a conceptual plan for the Cultural Center, which included a version of the Holocaust memorial, raising questions as to whether it would compete with other possible locations.
However, there may be two separate memorials in the works, according to Sally Levine, the commission’s executive director.
One is expected to be installed near the state Capitol in downtown Atlanta, featuring a series of panels with information about survivors and liberators of Holocaust death camps, Levine said.
And, she said, she hopes and anticipates that there will be a “more permanent” exhibit at the Cultural Center, though that has not been officially decided.
Levine spoke at a July 16 City Council meeting, where officials decided to proceed with the $8.6 million Cultural Center project, contingent on a big copayment from the memorial’s fundraising group.
The plan also includes office space for the Holocaust commission. And it would be the new home for the state’s existing “Anne Frank in the World” Holocaust education exhibit, which is currently housed in the Parkside Shopping Center on Roswell Road.
–Hannah Greco and Evelyn Andrews