Designed by Kenneth Treister, the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach is unforgettable. A project conceived by Holocaust survivors in 1984, the memorial was opened in 1990. It seeks to imprint in visitors the horrors of the Holocaust. The main sculpture is prominent from afar, a hand reaching for the sky. While some might interpret this as triumph from afar, the reality becomes much more visible up close. To get to the statue, one must walk through the Arbor of History, panel after panel of photos and words that take you through the history of World War II and the Holocaust. The long hallway you traverse afterwards - the Lonely Path - is reminiscent of solitude, and it is a somber affair.

Squares of light illuminate the walls beyond curved archways, with the exit distant and forlorn in the distance. Children chant in Hebrew as you walk past these walls with names of major concentration camps engraved on them. And as you head out of the hallway, a statue of a woman reaches out, her face twisted in agony. It is hard to tear your eyes away from the emaciated figures lying around the giant hand that stretches out towards the sky, hundreds of naked figures sprawled across it, writhing in pain. The sight is horrific, and haunting. The grief and despair that resonates is hard to shake off, and that what the memorial seeks to do. It is a reflection of human suffering, and a warning for the future.