Shoa Memorial, Shoah memorial in Herne, Germany

The Shoa Memorial on Willi-Pohlmann-Platz, between the Herner Sparkasse building and the Kulturzentrum Herne, is 6.5 m long, 3.25 m wide and 3.5 m high. A dark anthracite concrete ramp rises to an upright, 9 cm thin light panel of yellowish fibre concrete with stainless-steel reinforcement, topped by a golden Star of David. Set into the panel are 401 glass oculars made in a Bohemian workshop, bearing the names, birth and death dates and places of death of the known victims from Herne and Wanne-Eickel, plus nine oculars for unnamed victims.

In 2004 Herne's council resolved to create memorial sites for the Shoah victims from Herne and Wanne-Eickel, and ten decentralized plaques followed between 2004 and 2008. A nationwide competition in 2008 drew 29 designs; the council chose Gabriele Graffunder and Winfried Venne's entry, funded with about 90,000 euros by the Herner Sparkasse's art foundation. The memorial was inaugurated on 29 January 2010 on Willi-Pohlmann-Platz, with Charlotte Knobloch of the Central Council of Jews in Germany giving the address.

The memorial's name tablets are glass oculars set into a light fibre-concrete panel, made in a workshop in Bohemia; 401 bear the names, birth and death dates and places of death of known victims from Herne and Wanne-Eickel, and nine more stand for unnamed victims. A Hebrew inscription below quotes the tombstone formula "May their souls be bound in the bundle of life".

The memorial stands on Willi-Pohlmann-Platz, between the Herner Sparkasse building and the Kulturzentrum Herne. Visitors walk up a dark, inclined ramp about five metres long to reach the pale memorial tablet; the names are set in glass oculars and can only be read up close. Since mid-2025 the bronze gates are fixed to the sides and the site is monitored by video.

The memorial's 401 glass oculars were made in a workshop in Bohemia; each bears a name, birth and death dates and place of death, with nine separate oculars for unidentified victims. From a distance only the lost rows of letters show through the glass, so visitors must step close to read them.