Albert and Sara Reuben Holocaust Memorial Garden
Located at JCC Indianapolis on the Max and Mae Simon Jewish Community Campus is the Albert and Sara Reuben Holocaust Memorial Garden. The centerpiece of the garden is a sculpture “Surviving Spirit” by survivor Alfred Tibor, a single statement of the horror and triumph of the Jewish people.
The base of the monument is six-sided like the Jewish star. It is inscribed with the names of some death camps and concentration camps. The Mourner’s Kaddish (Jewish prayer for the dead) is part of the Memorial as well as a poem and a quotation from Elie Wiesel.
About the Brick Wall
The Jewish Community Campus includes a scenic pedestrian walk, the Kleiman Walk Through Jewish History, leading from the east side of the Arthur M. Glick Jewish Community Center through the wooded grounds, to arrive at the Sablosky Camp Pavilion.
This brick walk incorporates markers noting 40 major events in Jewish history. The designation for the Holocaust features an additional path leading to a special memorial sculpture.
About Albert and Sara Reuben
Albert G. and Sara I. (Rifkin) Reuben met at the Omaha Jewish Community Center and were married more than 60 years before Albert’s death in 2002. They came to Indianapolis in 1948 where Albert launched a successful business career, working his way up to owning a number of franchises and real estate developments.
Sara was born in 1914 in Bobruisk, Belarus, coming to the U.S. with her parents at age 9. She participated with the Jewish Education Association Auxillary and Hooverwood Guild, and she was a member of Jewish Women International, the Women’s Committee of the Indianapolis Symphony, and Brandeis Women’s Committee. An active participant in the local Hadassah chapter, Sara was twice its president and also served as president of Congregation Beth-El Zedeck Sisterhood.
Together, the Reubens were dedicated to the preservation and advancement of Jewish culture, education, and history. Sara chaired the committee that in the late 1990s developed the Albert and Sara Reuben Holocaust Memorial Garden on the Max and Mae Simon Jewish Community Campus, which she saw as a form of teaching and learning. She also took pleasure in dedicating the Albert and Sara Reuben Senior and Community Resource Center (Jewish Family Services).
Albert died in 2002, and Sara followed in 2010. But their legacy lives on through the Albert G. and Sara I. Reuben Family Foundation.