Yad Vashem

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The Hall of Names containing Pages of Testimony commemorating the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

The entrance to the Holocaust History Museum

Yad Vashem (Hebrew: יד ושם‎ also spelled Yad VaShem; "Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority") is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament. The origin of the name is from a Biblical verse: "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (Yad Vashem) that shall not be cut off." (Isaiah, chapter 56, verse 5). (A note on orthography: the two nouns in Hebrew, yad [memorial/hand] and "shem" [name] are often capitalized in English transliterations; similarly, the Hebrew sign for "and" ["v"] is sometimes lowercased.)

Located at the foot of Mount Herzl on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem is a large 45-acre complex containing the Holocaust History Museum, memorial sites, such as the Children's Memorial and the Hall of Remembrance, The Museum of Holocaust Art, sculptures, outdoor commemorative sites such as the Valley of the Communities, a synagogue, archives, a research institute, library, publishing house and and an educational center, The International School for Holocaust Studies. Non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust, at personal risk, are honored by Yad Vashem as "Righteous Among the Nations."

1 Layout
2 Goals and objectives
3 Museum
- 3.1 Righteous Among the Nations
4 History
- 4.1 Recent history
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Layout

Yad Vashem Campus designed by Safdie

Interior of the Holocaust History Museum; the main triangular walkway connects the museum's exhibition halls.

The new Holocaust History Museum was built as a prism-like triangular structure. It is 180 meters long, in the form of a spike, which cuts directly through the mountainside. Its stark walls are made of reinforced concrete and it covers and an area of over 4,200 square meters, most of which is underground. At the uppermost edge of the spike is a skylight, protruding through the mountain edge.

There are 10 exhibition halls, each devoted to a different chapter in the history of the Holocaust. Unlike the exhibition in the old museum, which was primarily composed of photographs, the new exhibition is a multi-media presentation that incorporates survivor testimonies as well as personal artifacts donated to Yad Vashem by Holocaust survivors, the families of those who perished, Holocaust museums and memorial sites around the world. The exhibits are set up chronologically, with the testimonies and artifacts accentuating the individual stories used to highlight the historical narrative throughout the museum.

The museum is designed so the visitor begins above underground, proceeds to the lowest underground point in the center of the museum, and then slowly walks upwards towards the exit. The exit from the main part of the museum is onto a balcony overlooking a stunning view of Jerusalem, and involves the visitor stepping from a dark corridor into direct sunlight (weather and time of day permitting). This is deliberate and intended to represent the move from the struggle of the Jewish people during the dark days of the Holocaust, to the light of Israel, and the future of the Jews; and to emphasize the natural beauty of the country.

[edit] Goals and objectives

Documentation:
- recording testimonies of survivors. The Oral History Section of the Yad Vashem Archives currently houses some 46,000 audio, video, and written testimonies
- collecting Pages of Testimony memorializing Jewish victims of the Holocaust^[1], Yad Vashem has so far collected 2.1 million Pages of Testimony. The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names [[1]] currently holds more than 3.3 million names of Holocaust victims, all accessible online. Yad Vashem contiues its project of collecting as many names of Jewish victims as possible.
- collecting photos, documents and resources regarding the Holocaust. The Yad Vashem Archives house some 74 million pages of Holocaust-related documentation and over 350,000 photographs.

Research and Publications:
- conducting, encouraging and supporting research regarding the Holocaust
- encouraging students and young scholars to research the Holocaust
- developing and coordinating symposia, workshops and international conferences and undertaking scholarly projects
- publishing research and making it available to the general public
- publishing memoirs, documents, albums and diaries related to the Holocaust

Education:
- operating the International School for Holocaust Studies^[2]
- providing professional development courses for educators both in Israel and throughout the world
- developing age appropriate study programs, curricula and educational materials for both Israeli and foreign schools in order to teach students of all ages about the Holocaust
- holding exhibitions about the Holocaust
- teaching about the Holocaust to the general public

Commemoration
- preserving the memory and names of the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust and the numerous Jewish communities destroyed during that time
- holding ceremonies of remembrance and commemoration

Righteous Among the Nations
- Honoring non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Since the 1960s the title of Righteous Among the Nations has been awarded to more than 22,000 individuals.

[edit] Museum

Panoramic view of Jerusalem at the exit of Yad Vashem's Holocaust History Museum.

In 1993, Yad Vashem decided to build a larger museum to replace the one built during the 1960s. This was in response to the need to provide a meaningful way of commemorating the Holocaust amid the technological advances of the new millenium, while appealing to younger generations, whose responsibility it will be to pass on the legacy of Holocaust remembrance. The new Holocaust History museum is the largest Holocaust museum in the world. It is carved into the mountain and designed to reflect the story of the European Jewish community during the Holocaust and their resurrection from the ashes in Israel. Consisting of a long corridor connected to 10 exhibition halls, each dedicated to a different chapter of the Holocaust, the museum tells the story of the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective. The museum combines the personal stories of 90 Holocaust victims and survivors and presents in its exhibitions some 2,500 personal items including artwork and letters from the Holocaust donated by survivors and others. At the end of the Holocaust History Museum is the Hall of Names, a memorial to the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. The main Hall is composed of two cones: one extending ten meters skywards, echoed by a reciprocal well-like cone excavated into the natural underground rock, its base filled with water. On the upper cone is a display featuring 600 photographs of Holocaust victims and fragments of Pages of Testimony. These are reflected in the water at the bottom of the lower cone, commemorating those victims whose names remain unknown. Surrounding the platform is the circular repository, housing the approximately 2.1 Pages of Testimony collected so far, with empty spaces for those yet to be submitted—room for six million Pages in all. Attached is a study area with a computerized data bank and where online searches of Holocaust victims' names may be performed on the Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names. Access to the Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names is also available on the Internet at [[2]].

Since the 1950s, Yad Vashem has collected approximately 46,000 audio, video and written testimonies by Holocaust survivors; as the survivors age and are beginning to become less mobile, the program has expanded to visiting survivors in their homes to tape interviews.

On March 15, 2005, the dedication of the new Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, Israel took place. The impressive building was designed by the world acclaimed Jewish architect, Moshe Safdie. Leaders from 40 states and former Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan attended the inauguration of Holocaust museum. President of Israel Moshe Katzav said that the new museum serves as "an important signpost to all of humankind, a signpost that warns how short the distance is between hatred and murder, between racism and genocide."^[3] The building's triangular architectural-shape is said to represent the bottom half of a Star of David, because the world's Jewish population was cut in half as a result of the Holocaust.

[edit] Righteous Among the Nations

Main article: Righteous Among the Nations

Memorial to the Victims of the Concentration and Extermnation Camps Nandor Glid (1924-1997) Cast Bronze

One of Yad Vashem's tasks is to honor non-Jews who risked their lives, liberty or positions to save Jews during the Holocaust. To this end a special Commission, headed by a retired Supreme Court Justice, was established. The Commission examines and evaluates each case according to a well-defined set of criteria and regulations. The Righteous receive a certificate of honor and a medal and their names are commemorated in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, on the Mount of Remembrance, Yad Vashem. This is an ongoing project that will continue for as long as there are valid requests, substantiated by testimonies or documentation.

[edit] History

The idea of establishing a memorial in the historical Jewish homeland for Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust was conceived during World War II, as a response to reports of the mass murder of Jews in Nazi-occupied countries.

Yad Vashem was first proposed in September 1942, at a board meeting of the Jewish National Fund, by Mordecai Shenhavi, a member of Kibbutz Mishmar Ha'emek.

In August 1945, the plan was discussed in greater detail at a Zionist meeting in London where it was decided to set up a provisional board of Zionist leaders with David Remez as chairman, Shlomo Zalman Shragai, Baruch Zuckerman, and Shenhavi.

In February 1946, Yad Vashem opened an office in Jerusalem and a branch office in Tel Aviv and in June that year, convened its first plenary session. In July 1947, the First Conference on Holocaust Research was held at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where further plans were made for Yad Vashem. However, the outbreak in May 1948 of the War of Independence, brought almost all Yad Vashem operations to a standstill for two years. In 1953, the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, unanimously pased the Yad Vashem Law, establishing the Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.

[edit] Recent history

In 2000, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder visited Yad Vashem as a guest of Israeli Premier Ehud Barak and was invited to turn a handle to boost the Eternal Flame. In a much reported diplomatic gaffe he turned the handle the wrong way and extinguished it.^[4]

In 2005, in response to a letter by Sa'ar Netanel, a member of the Jerusalem City Council, Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, promised a presentation of information on "other victims" in a "relevant place". Some information on other victims of the Nazis can be found on Yad Vashem's web site as of January 2008.^[5]

In September 2007, Yad Vashem received the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord.^[6]The Prince of Asturias Award is presented in 8 categories. The Award for Concord is bestowed upon the person, persons or institution whose work has made an exemplary and outstanding contribution to mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence amongst men, to the struggle against injustice or ignorance, to the defense of freedom, or whose work has widened the horizons of knowledge or has been outstanding in protecting and preserving mankind's heritage. Yad Vashem is the second most visited tourist site in Israel, after the Western Wall, with over one million visitors during 2007.

During 2008, Yad Vashem has already hosted a wide range of VIPs and dignitaries, beginning with US President George W.Bush, who visited in January 2008.