Simmy Allen

Yad Vashem Mourns the Passing of Holocaust Survivor Lily Ebert, z"l

Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance in Jerusalem, send its heartfelt condolences to the family of Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert, z”l, who passed at the age of 100. Similar to many Holocaust survivors, Lily has, in recent years, made it her life’s mission to bear witness to the horrors of the Holocaust they experienced, while spreading a message of hope, resilience, and the triumph of the human spirit. Their legacy, along with Lily's lasting influence, will forever be etched in our... Continue reading

Unveiling the Depths of "122,499 Files" at Yad Vashem: Interview with Ran Slavin

To mark the launch of the new video-art wall installation, "122,499 Files" we sat down with the artist and producer Ran Slavin to explore the inspiration and depths behind his new creation, "122,499 Files." Yad Vashem has previously incorporated multimedia experiences, as illustrated by the "The World That Was" a living landscape mosaic video by the renowned artist Michal Rovner, featuring clips of archival videos showcasing pre-Holocaust Jewish life. These images are the first to greet... Continue reading

Hanna's Legacy: A Story of Remembrance and Education

In the heart of Hagenow, Germany, amidst cobblestone streets and historic buildings, lived a young Jewish toddler, Hanna Meinungen. Hagenow, once home to a vibrant Jewish community dating back to 1764, bore witness to the tumultuous events of history, including the tragic November 1938 Pogrom, known as "Kristallnacht," which forever altered the course of Jewish life across much of Europe under the Third Reich. Born in 1940 to Hermann and Kathe Meinungen, Hanna's life was cut short as she fell... Continue reading

Remembering Heroes from the Holocaust

In a world too often defined by narratives of devastation and animosity, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, stands as a guiding light. It heralds the launch of the "Who Is Your Holocaust Hero?" campaign, inviting the public to reflect on this poignant occasion of Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day. Timed to coincide with the solemn commemoration on May 5-6th, this digital initiative aims to shift our gaze towards stories of heroism, solidarity, and... Continue reading

"I Have to Tell My Story": Giselle (Gita) Cycowicz

In April 2022, the same week Jews all over the world observed Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, inaugurated a new Holocaust Educational Center in the south of Israel. This unique learning environment, entitled "Before My Very Eyes," was built in the middle of Israel's largest military base, the Ariel Sharon IDF Training Center in the Negev, just outside of Be'er Sheva. The new Center comprises a specially... Continue reading

Judaica Art Created by Holocaust Survivor Moshe Perl in Dachau

On the occasion of the visit of President Joe Biden, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan will present the President of the United States of America with a replica of one of Moshe Perl's first drawings from after the end of World War II. This "Shiviti" plaque was created by the Holocaust survivor a few days after his liberation at the Dachau concentration camp, in honor and anticipation of the first Jewish prayer service in the camp. This colorful oil crayon, gouache painting on cardboard with the... Continue reading

Family of Holocaust Survivor and Righteous Among the Nations from Poland Visited Yad Vashem

"I wanted to fill in the blanks about my family's history, that only they knew."  Dr. Isidore Zuckerbrod   Dr. Isidore Zuckerbrod, son of Holocaust survivors Dawid and Matylda Zuckerbrodt, and Renata Szyfner, daughter of Eugeniusz Szyfner and granddaughter of Eugeniusz's mother Katarzyna Szyfner – both recognized as Righteous Among the Nations for helping save Jews during the Holocaust, including Dr. Zuckerbrod's parents, visited Yad Vashem today. The emotional meeting took place at Yad... Continue reading

President of the Bundestag Actively Remembers a Victim of the Holocaust by Filling out a Page of Testimony for Irma Nathan

Yesterday, President of the Bundestag H.E. Ms. Bärbel Bas visited Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, accompanied by Speaker of the Israeli Knesset Mickey Levy. Together they toured the "Flashes of Memory: Photography during the Holocaust" exhibition and the Museum of Holocaust Art, participated in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance, and visited the Children's Memorial. President Bas also heard about the Nathan family, who, before the Holocaust, resided at... Continue reading

Gratitude and Recognition: A Career Dedicated to Holocaust Remembrance and Education

During Avner Shalev's 27-year career at the helm of the Yad Vashem Directorate, he oversaw a complete transformation of global Holocaust remembrance, education, research and documentation. He created a new Museum Complex on the Mount of Remembrance, including the world-class Holocaust History Museum and Museum of Holocaust Art; he invested resources is expanding Yad Vashem's Archives; and he brought Yad Vashem into the 21st century, creating an online presence in eight languages and a social... Continue reading

Echoes of Remembrance

Despite the still-standing global restrictions on travel, over the course of Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2021, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, reached hundreds of thousands of people around the world via its active social media and online presence. The responses to the content shared have not only been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging, they are representative of a relentless thirst for knowledge and inspiration in a fractured world. Responding to a... Continue reading

A Virtual Tour into the Past

On 27 January 1945, Soviet troops arrived at the "gates of hell." They could never have imagined the atrocities the Nazis had committed against other human beings during the Second World War. While the Red Army had already liberated other camps, such as Majdanek in July 1944, the scale of what they discovered in Auschwitz shook them to their core. So horrific were the scenes they uncovered, they quickly requested filming equipment to record the sights for the world to witness for... Continue reading

"Remember that there once lived…": Yad Vashem's Online Project Commemorates Individual Holocaust Victims

“I should like someone to remember that there once lived a person named David Berger." David wrote these words in his last letter, sent from Vilna in 1941. Today, 80 years after the 19-year-old was murdered during the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is fulfilling the last wishes of David and many other Holocaust victims through its IRemember Wall project. This unique online commemorative initiative allows the public to identify with the names and stories of some of the six million Jewish men, women... Continue reading

Yad Vashem Outreach to the Arab World

Yad Vashem's website in Arabic is complete with the fact-based historical narrative of the Holocaust, a wide range of online exhibitions designed to present personal stories from those who went through it, as well as educational materials available to the public in Arabic-speaking countries and communities. Nevertheless, many in the Arabic-speaking world are not familiar with the Holocaust, the impact it had on humanity and its relevance to today's complex global society. Over the past months,... Continue reading

Who Am I? The Story of a Jewish Child from the Holocaust

"My story of the Holocaust is different from most stories you have heard. One-and-a-half-million children were murdered for no other reason other than they were Jewish. I stayed alive. That makes me very different from one-and-a-half-million others." So began Holocaust survivor Rena Quint recently during a "Zoom" conversation with hundreds of participants worldwide. "A Conversation with Survivor Rena Quint" is the part of a series of online discussions with Holocaust survivors produced by Yad... Continue reading

A Mission to Remember the Past

Today, seventy-five years after the end of World War II, the Israeli Air Force, under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin, participated in a joint commemorative flypast mission together with the German Air Force over the skies of the notorious Dachau concentration camp. The flypast is part of a larger joint exercise between the German and Israeli Air Forces. The pilots of the Israeli Air Force have taken more than the memory of the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered... Continue reading

So Much Knowledge – and Yet So Much Still Unknown

The memory of the Holocaust is a huge puzzle with many black holes. Each hole represents the personal stories of people – men, women and children –  who were murdered simply because of the faith into which they were born. Yad Vashem continues to work alongside other Holocaust institutions to uncover these remaining missing pieces and safeguard them for all time. Just last week, conservationists and researchers at the Auschwitz State Memorial uncovered documents found hidden inside a... Continue reading

Father, Where Art Thou?

For more than 75 years, no one knew what had happened to Moshe Reicher. All traces of him were lost one day in 1944 when he simply vanished. Now, thanks to a comprehensive archival investigation conducted both at Yad Vashem and in Italy, Moshe's fate has finally been revealed. Moshe Reicher was born in 1910 in Poland. He and his wife Ethel (born 1914) fled from Poland to Italy at the beginning of World War II. There they had two children, Rosetta and Daniel. Moshe who was deported to Picano in... Continue reading

Growing up during the Holocaust

To mark the occasion of Anne Frank Day 2020, observed on what would have been her 91st birthday, the Anne Frank Zentrum and the Society of Friends of Yad Vashem in Germany co-sponsored a video interview with Jewish resistance fighter and Holocaust survivor Zvi Aviram. For years, Aviram has been traveling around the world talking to audiences about his story of survival during WWII. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, he was unable to attend physically and the interview was... Continue reading

The Armoire that Saved Her Life

In Israel, the topic of the Holocaust is discussed often, both in the family of Holocaust survivors, and in wider society. Tamar Doron studied about the Holocaust in school, participated in annual Holocaust Remembrance Day and other commemorative ceremonies, and heard her mother, Genia, talk about her life during the Holocaust and how she was rescued by a Polish family and lived in a convent. Nevertheless, she never knew the finer details about how her mother had survived, nor could she have... Continue reading

"My Dreams Have Now Come True"

There was not a dry eye in the room, but the tears were not of sadness or suffering. Rather, they were of joy and optimism for a shared future. So moved by the scene, Frieda Kliger remarked: "My dreams have now come true." Frieda was one of some 80 Holocaust survivors who gathered this week at Yad Vashem for an event in appreciation for their dedicated service to Yad Vashem and to mark the Jewish New Year. While each of these survivors has a unique story to tell, one purpose that binds them to... Continue reading