Peace Monuments Dedicated in 1950-1954 (5-9 years since Hiroshima & Nagasaki)

Right click image to enlarge.

May 27, 1950 - Kirti Mandir / Gandhi Birthplace, Porbandar, Gugarat (India). House where Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869. Click here for a critique.

June 1, 1950 - "Aero Memorial World War I 1917-18," Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA). By Paul Manship [1885-1966]. "Proposed during WW-I by the Aero Club of Pennsylvania. Commissioned by Fairmount Park Art Association."

August 1939 - "Armillary Sphere," Ariana Park, Palais des Nations / Palace of Nations, Geneva (Switzerland). 410 cm in diameter. Weighs some 5,800 kg. Also called Celestial Sphere. By Paul Manship [1885-1966]. Presented by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation in memory of the founder of the League of Nations.

1950 - "The Bell of Banzai for Absolute Peace," Taihei Temple, Uwajima, Ehime, Shikoku Island (Japan). Replaced temple bell seized by military during World War II. Cast (including coins from 26 countries) by Chiyoji Nakagawa [1905-1972], mayor of Uwajima 1959-1967 and 1971-1972. Original peace bell and model for Japanese Peace Bell at the United Nations. Right image is miniature of the real bell.

1950 - United Nations Headquarters Building, East River, New York City, New York (USA). (Chiyoji Nakagawa [1905-1972] attends 6th UN General Assembly meeting in Paris in 1951.)

1950 - United Nations Memorial Cross, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Kyushu Island (Japan). "Standing faced Korea, the soldier of the Allied Forces killed in the Korean War is commemorated." Inscription: "In honor of the fallen heroes of the United Nations erected in 1950 by members of the Kokura General Depot Camp Kokura Kyushu Japan." (Kitakyushu was created in 1963 and includes the old city of Kokura.)

August 20, 1950 - Gandhi World Peace Memorial, Lake Shrine, Self-Realization Fellowship, Pacific Palisades, California (USA). The focal point of the memorial is a thousand-year-old stone sarcophagus from China, in which a portion of Gandhi's ashes are encased in a brass and silver coffer. The sarcophagus is flanked by two statues of Guan Yin.

1951 - "Arts of Peace" Equestrian Statues, Arlington Memorial Bridge, Washington, DC (USA). By James Earle Fraser. "Music & Harvest" on the left consists of a winged horse, Pegasus, between a male figure with a bundle of wheat & a sickle & a woman with a harp. "Aspiration & Literature" on the right, another Pegasus is flanked by figures holding a book & a bow. The statues are approximately 17 feet tall atop their granite pedestals, are of gilded bronze. They were commissioned in l925 & their designs approved in 1933, but the statues were not erected until after World War II when they were cast & gilded by Italy as a gift to the USA.

1951? - German Democratic Republic. Anti-nuclear stamp featuring a dove of peace. Probably issued in connection with the 3rd World Festival of Youth & Students for Peace (WFYS) which was attended by 26,000 participants from 104 countries. The fetival motto was "For Peace and Friendship - Against Nuclear Weapons."

August 1951 - Commemorative scarf of the 3rd WFYS, East Berlin (German Democratic Republic). By Pablo Picasso [1881-1973].

After 1951 - House Museum & Memorial to Charles G. Dawes, Evanston Historical Society, 225 Greenwood Street, Evanston, Illinois (USA). Dawes lived here from 1909 until his death in 1951. Charles G. Dawes [1865-1951] & Sir Austen Chamberlain [1863-1937] shared the 1925 Nobel Peace Prize.

1952 - Peace & Freedom Tapestry, East Wall, Security Council Room, United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Entry #754 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). By Per Krohg of Norway.

1952 - Children's Fountain, United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Entry #747 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

August 6, 1952 - Cenotaph for the A-Bomb Victims, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima (Japan). Inscribed "Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil." "The stone chest in the center holds the registry of the names of persons who died from the bombing, regardless of nationality. As of August 6, 2001, the registry comprises 77 volumes that list a total of 221,893 names." #20 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour.

June 1953 - Woman & Bird Statue, Trusteeship Chamber, United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Large teak statue made by a Danish artist Henrik Starcke. Gift from Denmark. Woman with outstretched arms letting a bird fly free suggests "unlimited flight upwards to greater heights." In the context of the Trusteeship Council, it can be seen to symbolize the colonies achieving independence. Entry #760 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1953 - Bridge of Europe, across Rhine River between Strasbourg (France) & Kehl (Germany). "Permanent artistic installation, a bond between two countries for which the border formerly seemed & wanted to be insuperable. According to Roland Ries, then mayor of Strasbourg, 'Here, it is indeed Europe, because this bridge connects two countries that have been torn apart for a long time; the reconciliation of these two countries is today one of the surest supports of the European construction.'"

1953 - "Mankind's Struggle for a Lasting Peace", 3rd Floor, Conference Building, United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Mural 64 feet long x 9.5 feet tall by Jose Vela Zanetti [1914-1999], a Spanish exile living in the Dominican Republic, in which a giant, four-armed figure implants the emblem of the United Nations. Entry #758 in the "Peace Movement Directory by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1953 - Yad Vashem at foot of Mount Herzl, Mount of Remembrance, Jerusalem (Israel). A 45-acre complex containing Holocaust History Museum (March 15, 2005, right image), memorial sites (such as Children's Memorial & Hall of Remembrance), Museum of Holocaust Art, sculptures, outdoor commemorative sites (such as Valley of the Communities), a synagogue, archives, a research institute, library, publishing house and International School for Holocaust Studies (1993). Non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust at personal risk are honored by Yad Vashem as 'Righteous Among the Nations.'"

1953 - October 21 Memorial Park, Desankin venac, Kragujevac (Serbia). At the site of the Kragujevac Massacre where 2,796 men, women and children were killed on October 21, 1941, by German occupation forces. Includes "Broken Wing" Monument (left image) & Genocide Museum (right image) which opened in 1976, Stanisa Brkic, curator. Click here for Wikipedia article. Info courtesy of Gerard Lössbroek.

1953 - Alfrick Peace Memorial Hall, Clay Green, Alfrik & Lulsley (England). Adjacent to the Village Playing Field. Click here for more about the phrase "peace memorial."

1953-1957 - Birkenkopf / Rubble Hill, south west of Stuttgart (Germany). Plaque says, "raised 40.2 meters from 1953 to 1957 / by piling up 1.5 million cubic meters of rubble from Stuttgart which had been 45% destroyed by 53 air attacks during WW-II." There is a path going up to the cross at the top. Now a popular area for short hikes. Refered to locally as "Monte Scherbelino," a jocular Italian-sounding name based on the German word Scherbe, meaning "shard" - "Mountain of shards." Info & Image from Mark Hatlie.

April 1, 1954 - Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima (Japan). Contains the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the Hiroshima Peace Bell, and many other peace monuments. Left image is air view. Right image shows the cenotaph (right) and Hiroshima Boys Choir (left) during the annual Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6 (Hiroshima Day). #26 of 56 "cenotaphs & monuments" on the Virtual E-Tour. Click here for Wikipedia article.Click here for peace monuments in Hiroshima.

June 8, 1954 - Japanese Peace Bell, West Court Garden, Secretariat Building, United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). Cast (including coins & metal from about 60 UN member countries) by Chiyoji Nakagawa [1905-1972] on October 24, 1952, at "the Tada Factory" (Japan). Gift to the UN from the UN Assn. of Japan. Rung on the Vernal Equinox and on 21 September to coincide with the opening of the UN General Assembly and the International Day of Peace. Click here for Wikipedia article. Entry #756 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001). Click here for Japanese website about the bell.

1954 - Triumph of Peace Tapestry, United Nations, New York City, New York (USA). By Peter Colfs of Belgium. Entry #759 in the "Peace Movement Directory" by James Richard Bennett (2001).

1954 - Horsewoman (Monument of Peace), United Nations, New York, NY (USA). "One of the symbols of the United Nations that everybody knows is... a sculpture created by Antun Augustincic [1900-1979]. It was given as a gift to the UN and it is situated in front of the main building in New York. The basement of the monument is made of the marble from the Croatian island of Brac. The equestrian statue was cast in the city of Zagreb, capital of Croatia."

Before 1955 - Monument at "Ground Zero" & ruin of Urakami Cathedral before restoration, Nagasaki (Japan). Photos taken in 1954 by members of the crew of the USS Wisconsin.

Circa 1954 - Heiwa-dori / Peace Boulevard, Hiroshima (Japan). "Constructed based on the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Plan enacted in 1952. The major elements of the street are four traffic lanes in the middle and two green belts on both sides. The green belts extend to about 4km. Most of the trees planted on the green belts were presented by the people around Hiroshima between 1957 and 1958. Peace Boulevard is also called ‘100 Meters Road’ due to its width. Although 24 100-meter-wide roads were planned in some cities damaged during the war, only two in Nagoya and one in Hiroshima have actually been constructed. In addition, two bridges were built on the street make it a special place. The railings of Heiwa-ohashi Bridge and Nishiheiwa-ohashi Bridge were designed by world-renowned sculptor, Isamu Noguchi."