About 10 years ago, when I was a Senator, I was approached by Steven Uhlfelder, a respected attorney and advocate who passed away in 2023, about creating a Holocaust Monument in Tallahassee. The goal was to recognize Florida families who are Holocaust survivors, with many local Holocaust groups supportive of the project.
Eleanor Sobel is a former Democratic member of the Florida State Senate, representing District 33 in Broward County from 2008 to 2016. (Eleanor Sobel/Courtesy)
After learning that only one other state (Ohio) had a monument like this in their capital, I jumped at the chance to help this idea come to life.
I quickly proceeded to pass legislation in the Senate with Rep. Jared Moskowitz, my partner in the Florida House who is now a congressman.
I knew the project needed funding and received support from the then Senate President, Don Gaetz. It also needed time. What I did not expect was for it to take 10 years to complete. But, perseverance counts.
Discussions about locations and design kept changing with construction issues. Pressure was applied to the Department of Management Services (DMS) to prioritize construction because Holocaust survivors were rapidly passing away.
According to recent data, as few as about 30,000 Holocaust survivors in the United States are alive to tell their stories. About 3,000 of those survivors live in Florida, which has one of the largest populations of survivors in the country.
This past March, ten years’ worth of work and collaboration resulted in the unveiling of the Florida Holocaust Monument in Memorial Park. The monument, which was constructed of iron and limestone, honors the more than six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust and the thousands of survivors who later made their homes in the Sunshine State.
The Florida Holocaust Monument in Memorial Park was unveiled in Tallahassee in March of 2025. (Eleanor Sobel/Courtesy)
Influential legislators who helped make the monument come to life were Senator Lori Berman, Senator Tina Scott Polsky, Senator Don Gaetz, Representative Michael Gottlieb, Chair of Florida’s Jewish Legislative Caucus, and former Representative Randy Fine, who is now a congressman.
The creation of the Holocaust Monument exemplifies Democrats and Republicans working together for a better Florida that appreciates and respects history.
More than 700,000 Jews currently live in Florida, making it the state with the third-largest Jewish population in the United States. The monument in Tallahassee features names and photos from about 500 of those families.
Demand continues by Florida families who would like to see their loved ones remembered at the Tallahassee Holocaust Monument. During the monument’s unveiling, David Schaecter, a 95-year old Holocaust survivor that moved to Miami in 1957 and recently passed, was awarded the Governor’s Medal of Freedom.
More than 500 people from around the state attended, including Scott Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer of the David Posnack JCC in Davie and Rositta Kenigsberg, president of the Holocaust Education and Documentation Center in Dania Beach.
Those who gathered witnessed much more than an unveiling of this monument – they witnessed community and camaraderie.
The Holocaust Monument is more than a stagnant statue and statute. It is a reminder that, within the generations of our neighbors and family members, a genocide was carried out on six million Jews because of their religious beliefs.
To study the Holocaust is to study the present, and now, the people of Florida have the opportunity to learn and engage in our state’s Capitol.
For Floridians especially, learning about the Holocaust is paramount to creating a more just and equitable future. Elie Wiesel, one of the most prominent Holocaust survivors, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Award and founder of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum reflected, “the opposite of love is not hate. It’s indifference.”
Both Jews and non-Jews should look toward our state’s Capitol, at the authentic photos of Floridians who escaped crematoriums, and feel empowered.
Bombings, shootings, and stabbings, all directed at Jews, have occurred in Austria, Guatemala, France, Colombia, Germany, and Italy. In the last 5 years, there has been a 344% increase in antisemitic attacks in the United States. The Holocaust was a tragic act of criminality, prejudice and hate, fueled by commonplace complacency, inactivity, and acceptance.
I hope all Floridians can find a way to travel by car, airplane or bus to our Capitol and study our state’s past, honor the Holocaust survivors who call Florida home, and reject hate in all forms, both old and new.
Eleanor Sobel is a former Democratic member of the Florida State Senate, representing District 33 in Broward County from 2008 to 2016. She also served as a State Representative, on the Broward County School Board, and as Hollywood City Commissioner.