The Gate of Infinity

On March 9th 2015 Czech sculptor/artist Aleš Veselý unveiled a piece of work called, in Czech, “Brána nenávratna”. It literally translates as The Gate of No Return but it seems to be widely known as The Gate of Infinity. On this post I’ll tell you where it is, the inspiration behind it and how it is part of a larger plan.

The Historical Perspective

Following the occupation of the country by Nazi Germany in March 1939 a period of time passed when it appeared that nothing was happening that directly affected the Jewish population. In the background the Nazis were generating lists of those to be deported from their homes as the first step in the Final Solution. The first Jewish deportees would be sent to the Lodz Ghetto in Poland. Later, the bulk of the Jewish population of Prague would be sent to Terezin Ghetto. On each occasion they would have used the Bubny Railway Station.

Bubny

As I write this post the new Bubny Railway Terminus is being built. The old Bubny Station sits in front of this huge new development looking a little like a dolls house in comparison. The Nazis chose Bubny station because it’s lines went north. Jews were marched from all over Prague to this station carrying their belongings packed into suitcases and wearing what they could. As they approached the station they first had to walk across the railway tracks. The picture above would be pretty much like it looked in WW2 just without the bars on the windows.

The Gate of Infinity

If you got off the metro at Vltavska, walked up the steps next to the old fountain and walked another 200 metres you will be at that point where the Jewish crossed those train tracks and that is where you’ll find The Gate of Infinity, part of a railway track heading upwards towards the sky, towards the unknown.

There’s a lot of meaning. The creator Aleš Veselý states that the 20 metre high work is inspired by Jacobs Ladder which in biblical history is how angels descended from and returned to heaven. The 36 sleepers in the structure are from a Jewish legend that 36 “chosen ones” must maintain the balance of the world and that Nazi rule was possible because of an imbalance. The 12 supporting struts are the tribes of Israel. Whether he suspected it or not, Aleš Veselý would be dead before the end of 2015. His thoughts were about the 42 members of his immediate family murdered in the Holocaust. Even the date of the unveiling, March 9th commemorated the murder of 4000 Jews at the Auschwitz Family Camp over the night of March 8th/9th 1944.

But ultimately The Gate of Infinity is not just the commemoration of the deportation of Jews but a wider understanding that the world needs balance. It needs humanity and compassion, respect and dignity. It needs tolerance and Aleš Veselý was of the opinion that this balance was again starting to tip away from these ideals.

Memorial of Silence

Yet, The Gate of Infinity is just a small part of the overall project called the Prague Shoah Memorial or the Memorial of Silence. In 2013 the Prague Shoah Memorial Foundation bought a 50 year lease from Czech railways in order to keep the land and importantly the old Bubny station intact. Specifically for the Jewish “Final Solution” they intend that the whole site be a reflection of the stigma that people feel in relation to what happened before, during and after WW2. Quoting directly “to remember the role of the passive silent majority that did nothing to stop them”. There are non-Jewish elements planned as well. Following the end of the war, the Beneš Decrees meant that people who had not declared themselves as being of Czech Nationality in the 1929 Census were deported from the country. And where do you think they had to go? That’s right, they crossed the Bubny railway tracks just like the thousands of Jews had done 5 years earlier. When the project is completed, the roadway that will cross the tracks will be called the Nicholas Winton Avenue and details of the 669 children (and their families) he helped save will be part of the memorial.

It’s a work in progress and I’ll write about it more as it develops. The Google Maps link to the Gate of Infinity is at https://maps.app.goo.gl/9J5tbXTg7AnDwniG6.