About the Children’s Memorial Garden 

The Children’s Memorial Garden at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County is the first garden of its kind on public grounds in New York State. The garden memorializes the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust and to all children who died during World War II. After visiting HMTC’s museum or attending a program, the Garden is a quiet place for contemplation and meditation.  Holocaust survivors with their children and extended families have a beautifully serene space in which to remember and honor their loved ones.

Early History of the Garden

In the very early 1900s, Harriet and Harold Pratt became owners of the 204-acre parcel now known as the Welwyn Preserve - a wedding gift from Harold’s father, Charles Pratt, the founder of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and a business associate of John D. Rockefeller at Standard Oil. The mansion was originally designed by Babb, Cook & Welsh and redesigned by Delano & Aldrich in 1920. Harriet and Harold named their estate “Welwyn.” 

Harriet herself was an accomplished horticulturist and landscaper in her own right and in the early 1910s engaged the renowned landscape architects, Olmsted Brothers, to design the basic layout of the estate as well as the preliminary work for the gardens. Specialized garden rooms were designed by James Leal Greenleaf and Martha Brooks Brown Hutcheson.

Harold died in 1939 and Harriet in 1969.   In 1975, the estate was bequeathed to Nassau County for a nature preserve and Welwyn Preserve was created. 

The Children’s Memorial Garden is Born

"The Million Pennies Project,” the brainchild of Irving Roth, was launched in the Spring of 1996 with the purpose of creating a Children’s Memorial Garden. By the end of 1998, students from Nassau County, Suffolk County, Queens, and Brooklyn had collected $12,000 - 1.2 million pennies accumulated in hundreds of jars, each penny symbolizing a child whose life was stolen from them.

In 1998, Jolanta Zamecka was asked to create a garden dedicated to the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered in the Holocaust and to all children throughout the world who died during World War II. She chose an overgrown abandoned garden at Welwyn with an existing fountain and hardscapes covered in brush and vines created almost 100 years ago to be the site for the Garden. On Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 29, 2003, the Children’s Memorial Garden was officially dedicated as a living tribute to all those children.

The butterfly has become the international symbol for the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered in the Holocaust.

The Garden Today

In 2019, Jolanta Zamecka and Bob Praver began the second stage of the Garden revitalization.  A project to create an amphitheater for outdoor workshops and other events was completed in 2020. The amphitheater can be used as an outdoor classroom, for performances or educational programs for the community.

Stanchions with quotes related to the Holocaust were also added to give visitors another opportunity for reflection and contemplation while in the garden. 

One-hour docent-led tours of the garden with a focus on the quotes on the stanchions allow visitors to learn about the History of the Holocaust in a distinctive outdoor space. Garden tours are available from April 15-November 15, weather permitting, by appointment only. To book a garden tour, call 516-571-8040 ext. 103, or email zacharygraulich@holocaust-nassau.org.

It has taken many years of hard work and dedication to develop the Children's Memorial Garden. We appreciate those who have, with kind hearts, provided funding, goods, or services to this Garden:

Aboff’s Paints
Alice Lawrence Foundation
Loni Baracus
B & D Rain Service, Irrigation
Debra Brand
Ellen and Neil Caplan
Con Coakle Masonry
Conserv-A-Tree, Tree Specialists
Timothy Conway, Landscape Designer
Danny DP Corp, Tree Service
Forest Iron Works
Lara Fram
Geral Associates, Landscape Contractor
Marilyn and Harvey Gessin, and Family
Donna and Eric Hall
Susan and Lawrence Kadish
Ethel Katz
Linda Koross
Roy Lapidus
Margaret and Howard Maier
Marmiro Stones, Marble Supplier
Mermaid Industries, Irrigation
Bruce Mittenberg
Stuart Narofsky, Architect
Nassau Suffolk Hardware
Bob Praver
Rasco Contracting (Gregory Raciborski)
Lawrence Salzman
Phyllis and Stanley Sanders
Suzanne Seperson
Shirley and William Fleischer Family Foundation
Cookie and Murray Slimowitz
Bonnie and Jason Spodek
David Spodek
Steven Dubner Landscaping
Jennifer Hakker Thompson
Howard Weitzman
Jolanta and Edward Zamecki
George Zimmerman