Luxembourg Inaugurates Memorial Walls Honouring 1,225 Jewish Victims of Nazism

Luxembourg has unveiled new memorial walls engraved with the names of 1,225 Jewish victims of Nazism, marking a solemn tribute to those persecuted, deported, and murdered during the Second World War. The inauguration took place on Sunday morning at the Kaddish Monument on Boulevard Roosevelt in Luxembourg City, with a ceremony of remembrance and reflection.
The initiative, launched by the association MemoShoah in partnership with the Luxembourg Government, the City of Luxembourg, the Jewish Consistory, and the Luxembourg Foundation for the Remembrance of the Shoah, seeks to honour the memory of victims while reinforcing the importance of vigilance against hatred in today’s society.

For Georges Santer, president of MemoShoah, the walls represent a symbolic resting place for those who never received proper graves. He emphasised that inscribing their names anchors their memory both within families and in Luxembourg’s national history. Claude Marx, honorary president of MemoShoah and initiator of the project, reminded attendees that remembering the Shoah is not only about confronting the past but also about defending human rights and rejecting antisemitism, racism, homophobia, and all forms of hatred in the present.

The ceremony combined speeches, prayers, a moment of silence, and readings of victims’ biographies, bringing personal voices back into collective remembrance. Music held a powerful place in the event, with clarinettist Nur Ben-Shalom performing pieces composed by Jewish victims or during the Nazi era. Once a source of hope in times of despair, the music now resonates as a bridge between generations, carrying the message of unity and humanity.

The inauguration follows Luxembourg’s long journey of reckoning with its wartime history, including the establishment of the Kaddish Monument itself as a place of mourning and remembrance. MemoShoah also released a memorial book containing the names of the victims along with 18 detailed biographies, available to the public at Villa Pauly until 3 October.

The new walls stand as both a tribute and a warning: a reminder of the devastation inflicted on Luxembourg’s Jewish community during the war, and a call to resist hatred in all its forms to safeguard peace and coexistence for the future.

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