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What’s New |
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Marking International Holocaust
Remembrance Day |
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Diplomatic Corps at Yad Vashem |
Exhibitions Around the
World |
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Diplomats from more than 30 countries
converged at Yad Vashem for a
special event in advance of the
UN-established “International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the
Victims of the Holocaust” on January 27. The diplomats, representing,
inter alia, Australia, Germany, Hungary, Korea, Nepal,
Poland and the United States, attended a cornerstone-laying
ceremony for the new International Seminars Wing of the
International School for Holocaust Studies. Educators from more
than 15 countries including Canada, Australia, Latvia, Venezuela,
Mexico, Brazil, and more currently attending seminars at Yad Vashem
also participated in the event. The new Wing is being established
through the generous support of Joseph Gottdenker, of Canada
and Friends of Yad Vashem worldwide. The new Edmond J. Safra Lecture
Hall, in the International Seminars Wing, is endowed by the Edmond
J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation. |
BESA: A Code of Honor - Muslim Albanians Who Rescued Jews During the Holocaust, opened January 27, 2009 at the Municipal Museum in city of Ramle. The photographic exhibition, with Hebrew and Arabic subtitles, comprises 17 portraits of Muslim Albanian Righteous Among the Nations and their families who went out of their way to rescue Jews, despite the grave danger this entailed. For three months following the opening of the exhibition in Ramle, Arab and Jewish students from the city will attend special educational programs of Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies. The “BESA” exhibition also opened in New York at the Columbia University's School for International Relations, on January 20 and will run through February 13, 2009 |
Other Yad Vashem exhibitions that opened
on January 27, 2009: The
“Auschwitz Album” at the Holocaust
Museum in Los Angeles; “Auschwitz: From the Depth of the Abyss” at
the Headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels. The
“No Child’s Play” traveling
exhibition opened in City Hall in Linz, Austria;
“An Arduous Road: Samuel Bak - 60 Years of
Creativity” at the University of Mainz,
Germany; and
“Private Tolkatchev at the Gates of Hell”
in the city of Neustrelitz in Germany. |
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Spotlight on the Web |
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Spanish Website and Youtube
Channel Launched |
A new website in Spanish was officially
launched in Spain, on January 27, 2009 in the presence of Spanish
Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos at the Palace de Viana in
Madrid. The
new site includes a multimedia exhibit of the “Auschwitz
Album” with Spanish narration, extensive material on Righteous Among the
Nations, educational resources, documents, maps, historical
information, 47 survivor testimonies, 770 images from the Holocaust,
18 last letters, scholarly articles, art, 110 artifacts and their
stories, 78 lexicon entries and much more.
Yad Vashem has also just launched a
YouTube Channel in Spanish,
joining the English, Hebrew and Arabic channels initiated in 2008.
Some 900,000 people have visited the three sites since being uploaded. |
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New: Russian Portal to Yad
Vashem Website |
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A new educational
mini-site in Russian has
just been uploaded to Yad Vashem’s virtual school. By making
pedagogical materials easily available to Russian-speaking educators
and students around the world, the International School for Holocaust
Studies now provides easy access to educational information
appropriate for students of all ages. Developed through the generous
support of the Genesis Foundation, the new portal includes both
historical and educational materials, with an emphasis on the events
of the Holocaust in the Former Soviet Union. |
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Names Recovery |
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Expanded Global Activity to
Recover Names of Shoah Victims |
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The Shoah Victims' Names Recovery Project
has expanded its global outreach efforts to recover the name of each
individual Jew who perished during the Holocaust. If you know of Shoah
survivors or others who require assistance in submitting Pages of
Testimony or would like to volunteer to join in this historic effort,
please contact:
names.outreach@yadvashem.org.il. To learn more about
the project
click here |
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“A Living Connection -
Bnei Mitzvah Twin With Holocaust Victims” |
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Read about a creative educational application of the Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project, outlining
Bar/Bat mitzvah twinning projects - an increasingly popular way in
which Jewish children and their families are strengthening their identification with the Jewish people by forging bonds with individual
children killed in the Holocaust. |
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Recent Events |
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On January 27, 2009, Rabbi Israel Meir
Lau, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council addressed the UN official
event commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. The theme of the
Holocaust memorial ceremony was “An Authentic Basis for Hope:
Holocaust Remembrance and Education” and Rabbi Lau was the keynote
speaker.
At the European Center of the United
Nations in Geneva, a special ceremony was held on January 27, with one
thousand participants. The Director General of the UN Office in Geneva
Sergei Ordzhonikidze, and Shulamit Imber, Pedagogical Director at Yad
Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, addressed the
audience.
Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev participated
in a special Israeli government session on January 25, 2009. Mr.
Shalev addressed Israeli ministers on marking International Holocaust
Remembrance Day and the fight against antisemitism.
On January 27, the World Jewish Congress
held a special plenary session at Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem Chairman
Avner Shalev joined WJC President
Ron Lauder, WJC Governing Board Chair Matthew Bronfman and President
of the European Jewish Congress Moshe Kantor and 300 other
participants who took part in the session. The meeting included a
commemoration ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance and a visit to the
Holocaust History Museum.
News Highlights
Stay informed with these articles of interest recently in the media.
How do you say Holocaust?
The Holocaust from the Inside out
German, Polish ambassadors blast comparisons of Gaza campaign to
Holocaust
Jewish leaders object to Nazi imagery at rallies
Yad Vashem blasts envoy's comparison of Gaza op to Shoah |
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With Your Support... |
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Yad Vashem’s activities and programs would not
be possible without the support of our many donors and friends. In these
difficult days, when pursuing the important mission of commemoration of
the Holocaust has never been more necessary, Yad Vashem more than ever
needs you to join us in our efforts to transform commemoration into a
lasting commitment to the Jewish people, to moral values and to
responsible action.
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US Professors Experience
“Echoes and Reflections”
“Echoes and Reflections”
the joint Curriculum Development program developed by the ADL, USC
Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, and Yad
Vashem, has since 2004 inspired teachers and students alike in its
groundbreaking approach to disseminating the Holocaust in the
classroom. January 2009 saw the first Echoes and Reflections
Professors’ Seminar at Yad Vashem. Professors from across the United
States met with historians and pedagogical experts at Yad Vashem,
Holocaust survivors and heard guest lecturers. Upon their return, the
participating professors are working with Echoes and Reflections staff
to bring the multimedia curriculum to their college campuses, with a
special focus on preparing educators to teach the Holocaust once they
enter the classroom.
The 2009 Echoes and Reflections Professors’ Seminar was funded by the
Holocaust Studies Program for Training U.S. Educators in Memory of
Nathan Katz, Holocaust Survivor from Lithuania. Additional funding for
airfare was provided by Dana and Yossie Hollander, the Yad Vashem
Benefactors who have supported the Echoes and Reflections program
since its inception. A further donation to the program was recently
made in honor of Helen and Abraham Goldkind.
Yad Vashem is now seeking more partners for this crucial project in
2009 and beyond. To read more about Echoes and Reflections,
click here. |
Yad Vashem welcomes the ongoing
partnership and visits from its friends and supporters: |
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For more information on Friends of Yad Vashem please
click here
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Yad Vashem Quarterly Magazine |
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The winter edition of the Yad Vashem Jerusalem
Magazine has just come online. The issue highlights educational, research
and commemorative events marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Also in this issue:
read more about Yad Vashem’s new research center,
recent publications, educational activities, the launch of a new
educational series and how the Yad Vashem Archives helped reveal the fate
of the family of Rabbi David Halivini. |
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Copyright © 2009 Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
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