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Visiting Info
Opening Hours:

Sunday to Thursday: ‬09:00-17:00

Fridays and Holiday eves: ‬09:00-14:00

Yad Vashem is closed on Saturdays and all Jewish Holidays.

Entrance to the Holocaust History Museum is not permitted for children under the age of 10. Babies in strollers or carriers will not be permitted to enter.

Drive to Yad Vashem:
For more Visiting Information click here

Featured Artifacts

The phase prior to the Jews’ deportation to the concentration and death camps was characterized by social, economic and physical isolation. The Jews were incarcerated in ghettos, where disease was rife, and extreme hunger and cold were causes of constant suffering. Despite the daily existential battle a spirited cultural life continued; festivals were observed and social and communal activities continued. The artifacts that remain from the ghetto period bear witness to this incredible triumph of the spirit over life’s harsh reality.

Humanity and Courage – Artifacts Tell the Stories of Jews Rescued by Righteous Among the Nations

Amid the horrors of the Holocaust and the stranglehold that tightened relentlessly around the Jews of Europe, a few non-Jews chose to jeopardize their lives and the lives of their families in order to save persecuted Jews. These rescue stories are paradigms of moral human behavior. Many Jews who survived the Shoah owe their lives to those courageous individuals, who were later recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations.

"They suppressed their fear and anxiety, not only from the German hunting dogs that chased after every hidden Jewish child, but also from suspicious neighbors, and sometimes even from untrustworthy relatives. Only a Jew - hunted down like an animal, ambushed by danger at every step and refused entry through every door at curfew time – truly comprehends  the significance of allocating a corner of the basement, pigsty or threshing  floor, and of providing soup and a cup of tea to those on the verge of starvation" 

(Dr. Moshe Bejski, Chairman of the Commission for the Designation of the Righteous Among the Nations, 1993).

Many artifacts preserved in Yad Vashem's  Artifacts Collection serve as tangible evidence of the extraordinary stories of the Righteous Among the Nations.  A few of the  artifacts are directly connected to the rescue action, such as the bicycle with which false papers were smuggled, the wardrobe in which a child hid, or the boat on which Jews were smuggled to a safe haven in another country. Other items are mementos from the rescuers safeguarded by the survivors who owe them their lives, or objects that help tell the rescue story.

One and a half million children were murdered in the Holocaust. Those children who survived against all the odds, whether by guile or by chance, missed out on a childhood and were forced to become wise beyond their years. Even when their families managed to evade the Nazis by constantly moving, children found themselves thrown into a rapidly changing environment full of daily challenges.

The artifacts presented here tell the stories of children whose Holocaust experiences are as varied as their fates, which differed from place to place and from moment to moment.

"She said to me: 'I'm sure you will need this'"

During the Holocaust, farewells became a frequent, significant and painful element in the lives of Jews who were deported from their homes, escaped or went into hiding. Hasty partings from community members, friends, family members – parents, children, siblings, partners  –  were all too frequent occurrences as was the sudden disappearance of loved ones. The vast majority bade farewell without knowing that this would be the final meeting, the last few words, the last fleeting glance. The painful realization came later and with it, a profound desire to safeguard the moment and every aspect connected to the loved one.

Over time, many artifacts preserved from the time of the Holocaust or from the period before the outbreak of war became symbolic memorials to relatives who were murdered.

Artifacts that were given to someone close at these fateful moments preserve within them the treasured memory of the loved one, as well as the painful echoes of that last farewell.