She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots at Fairfield University
Fairfield University will dedicate She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots, a bronze Holocaust memorial sculpture by artist Victoria Milstein, on Thursday, September 10. The sculpture honors five Jewish women who were murdered during the Holocaust and commemorates an extraordinary act of defiance in the face of certain death.
The sculpture depicts the five women alongside a bronze camera facing them, symbolizing the Nazi photographer’s lens through which their final moments were documented. The memorial tells the story of Frume Purve, who refused to remove her boots before her execution, along with Sorella Epstein, Roza Epstein, Mia-Malka Epstein, and Emma Epstein. Their courage and dignity have become a lasting symbol of resistance and the enduring strength of the human spirit.
The memorial is the second U.S. installation of Milstein’s work and is located between the Charles F. Dolan School of Business and Bellarmine Pond on the Fairfield University campus. The first installation was unveiled in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 2023. Fairfield’s sculpture was donated by Shoah Memorial Fairfield, Connecticut, which was established by Fairfield native Paul Burger after he encountered the original memorial. An accompanying endowment will support the sculpture’s maintenance and care in perpetuity.
An invitation-only dedication ceremony will take place from 5 to 5:30 pm on September 10, with speakers including Fairfield University President Mark R. Nemec, PhD, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Paul Burger, and Victoria Milstein. The ceremony will be followed by a ticketed lecture by Ambassador Lipstadt at 7:30 pm at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The lecture, “Art, Memory, History: The Holocaust and Its Lessons for Our Moment,” is part of the Philip I. Eliasoph Open VISIONS Forum.
The sculpture itself is available for visitors to experience from dawn to dusk. It is located on the Fairfield University campus at 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, CT 06824, with parking available at the Dolan School of Business and the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. Additional information about the memorial and its history is available through the Fairfield University Art Museum.
