Never Again
Ilana Goor
Date 1972 | Technique Bronze | Height h.2.45 | Location Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
A sculpture full of pathos depicting a monumental faceless figure holding in her arms the body of a child, perhaps dead or perhaps injured, as if expecting salvation on the one hand, and on the other acknowledging that he is a victim. This powerful iconography evokes the scene of “the Pieta” from the New Testament, in which Maria, Christ’s mother, holds him when he is leaning on her lap when taken down from the cross. There is also a Jewish evocation in the sculpture for the Sacrifice of Isaac when he leads his only son who he dearly loves as a sacrifice to God. The sculpture refers to the test of strength and faith that existed in the Holocaust in preparation for a new state. The name of the sculpture “Never Again” also indicates the need for the resurrection of the nation in the Land of Israel after the catastrophe.