Avner Shalev

Avner Shalev was the Chairman of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre between the years 1993-2021. He established the Museums Complex, including the Holocaust History Museum, for which he serves as Chief Curator, and founded Yad Vashem's International School for Holocaust Studies. He also served as Chief Curator of Yad Vashem's Permanent Exhibition in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum's Jewish Pavilion (Block 27).

Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev retired as of February 2021. He was replaced by Dani Dayan in August 2021.

SHOAH: About the Permanent Exhibition in Block 27 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

Auschwitz-Birkenau, where over one million Jewish men, women and children and approximately 125,000 non-Jews were murdered by the German Nazis, has entered human consciousness as the representation of supreme human evil as well as the ultimate symbol of the Holocaust of the Jewish people – the Shoah. This has found expression in the UN's decision to establish International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, the date the Red Army entered the camp. The extensive scope of... Read more

Preserving Memories for Posterity

I am often asked how Yad Vashem intends to preserve the memory of the Holocaust after those who survived its horrors are no longer with us. This question is informed by the apt perception that when Holocaust survivors share their stories with others, they serve as living testament to the Shoah's events and implications, thus strengthening the moral dimension of our commemoration endeavors. Preserving the memory of the Holocaust and its relevance for future generations will always be contingent... Read more

Keynote Address of Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev at the United Nations Event Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2015

The United Nations event marking the tenth anniversary of the UN-sanctioned International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, as well as the 70th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, at the UN General Assembly, centered on the theme "Liberty, Life and the Legacy of the Holocaust Survivors," and included a keynote address from Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, (due to the change in schedule, Mr. Shalev was unable to remain in New York and... Read more

Making Collective Remembrance Personal

Imparting memory has always been an integral component of Jewish tradition. The commandment to remember and pass on formative events in our history to the next generation is a religious obligation, reinforcing faith and establishing tradition. Read more

If Everything is Genocide

Recently, yet another Hamas spokesperson compared the situation in Gaza to events during the Holocaust. Coming from an official who represents a body that unabashedly declares its commitment to terrorism and the destruction of Israel, this is in itself not surprising. Echoed last week by Libya's deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi in a meeting of the UN Security Council a body whose members are officially dedicated to maintaining peace such assessments are even more distressing. The... Read more

Farwell to Elie Wiesel: a dear friend and an exemplary son of the Jewish People

This week, we mourn the death of Elie Wiesel, z"l. His passing not only saddens and fills us with a sense of loss. It also constitutes a painful milestone in the gradual transition to an era and world lacking live personal Shoah testimony.Elie was an exceptionally gifted witness of the Holocaust, remarkably articulating and communicating its haunting messages. An exemplary son of the Jewish people, he came to represent, embody and nurture its amazingly durable and resilient creative forces,... Read more

They Chose to Rebuild

At the end of World War II, thousands of Jews who had survived Nazi persecution attempted to reach the shores of this country. Many were thwarted by the British, and interned once again behind barbed wire. Others were more successful: slipping in under cover of darkness, to become an inseparable part of the Jewish community in Eretz Israel (Mandatory Palestine). But six decades ago, the doors of the country were finally flung open and hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors streamed in.... Read more

Yad Vashem Chairman Remarks in Austria

Earlier this week, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev spoke in the Austrian Parliament, at a special event dedicated to the importance of Holocaust remembrance and education, and to the Austrian Friends of Yad Vashem. Barbara Prammer, President of the National Council of Austria and Honorary Chairperson of the Austrian Friends of Yad Vashem opened the event, which coincided with the anniversary of the Anschluss, a German word meaning connection or annexation that is used to refer to... Read more

Address by Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate

Shalom. I am truly moved as we approach the conclusion of our conference. After listening to what has been said here this morning, I have decided to put aside the text that I had prepared and share some observations with you. The reason that I am so excited about talking with you at the conclusion of this session is the fact that at least one major goal that we had dreamed of eventually achieving when we originally commenced our educational efforts at Yad Vashem, has now come to... Read more

“I Too Had a Face” – The Yad Vashem Museum

When visitors come to Yad Vashem in the future, they will enter the new museum that is now under construction and begin to walk around it, moving from one section to another, when suddenly they will feel that in a certain place the floor changes. Instead of the concrete floor they had been walking on, there will be cobblestones that come from a different time and place. It will soon become clear that these stones have come from what was left of the Warsaw ghetto. Read more