The Cleveland Holocaust Memorial Kol Israel became the first Holocaust memorial in the United States to receive national status.

BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio. When President Joe Biden signed the omnibus bill last week that funds the US government for the coming year, it made history for Northeast Ohio.

This is because the bill includes an amendment making the Kol Israel Foundation (KIF) Holocaust Memorial in Bedford Heights a national memorial, making it the first Holocaust memorial in the United States to achieve national memorial status.

At 11 a.m. Thursday, the 62-year-old memorial, located in Zion Memorial Park, will be permanently hoisted with the United States flag as it is renamed the Kol Israel National Holocaust Memorial.

“I am proud that Kol Israel will now be recognized as a national memorial,” said US Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH). “The Kol Israel Memorial Foundation teaches Ohioers the lessons of the Holocaust and preserves the memory of its victims. As we pass this knowledge on to future generations, we renew our commitment to make sure this never happens again and to fight for a more just and peaceful world.”

“We must never forget the horrors of the Holocaust and the great suffering that befell the Jewish people,” added Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio). “The Kol Israel Holocaust Memorial was erected six decades ago in northeast Ohio to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and serve as a constant reminder of the evil that happened. I am pleased that our bipartisan bicameral law recognizing Kol Yisrael as a national memorial has now come into effect.”

In September, This was reported by 3News correspondent Carmen Blackwell. give the memorial the status of a national landmark. The Kol Israel Foundation was founded in 1959 by a group of Holocaust survivors who settled in Greater Cleveland after World War II.

The Holocaust Monument at Zion Memorial Park was officially unveiled in 1961 as a tribute to those who lost so many family members at the hands of Nazi Germany. The organization believes it is “the first of its kind in the country.

“This is amazing for our community and communities outside of it,” Hall Israel Foundation chief executive Halli Duchon told 3News in September. “It has to happen. It is very important that this be a part of the people who never forget the Holocaust and that it really happened. This will keep the stories and stories of the people who went through these atrocities alive.”

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