In May 2020, a formal agreement was signed between Yad Vashem and the David and Fela Shapell Family Foundation to secure the Founding Gift of the new David and Fela Shapell Family Collections Center, which is currently under construction.
The David and Fela Shapell Family Foundation has been a longstanding partner of Yad Vashem for many decades. Over several decades, the Shapell Family have been active members of the American Society for Yad Vashem, supporting important development at Yad Vashem including the establishment of the Visitors Center and the David and Fela Shapell Family Shoah and Heroism Study Center for Youth in the International School for Holocaust Studies.
In 2013, the Shapell family, together with Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev and International Relations Division Managing Director Shaya Ben Yehuda, discussed a vision of Yad Vashem’s future that included a new home for the conservation and preservation of its invaluable Holocaust-era collections. Since this initial vision, the project grew and expanded into a landmark endeavor with the Shapell Family at its helm, thus conceiving the David and Fela Shapell Family Collections Center – part of the new Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus to be completed by 2023.
As Holocaust survivors, David z”l, originally from Wolbrom, Poland, and Fela, originally from Oswiecim, Poland, were acutely aware of the urgent need to protect the memory of the Shoah. Indeed, this has been a driving force of the family’s longstanding philanthropic relationship with Yad Vashem: to ensure the meaningful history of the Holocaust, the everlasting memory of its victims and the legacy of its survivors. This mission is so integral to the family’s values, its message is engraved in stone above the Visitors Center with the biblical words: “Has the like of this happened in your days or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, and let your children tell theirs, and their children the next generation” (I Joel, 2-3).
In all of their endeavors, the Shapell Family has kept the mission of Holocaust education and remembrance, as well as Jewish continuity and commitment, clearly in focus. The David and Fela Shapell Family Foundation has supported other Jewish and Holocaust-related institutions in the US and Israel, as well as initiatives geared towards the strengthening of Jewish identity.
The David and Fela Shapell Family Collections Center will enable Yad Vashem to look steadily into the future of world-class Holocaust documentation, conservation, curation, education and much more. With construction expected to be complete by 2022, the Shapell Family Collections Center will comprise approximately 6,000 square meters (65,000 square feet) of new conservation and storage spaces for Yad Vashem's unrivalled and invaluable growing collections of Holocaust-era art, artifacts and archival materials. The Shapell Collections Center will provide optimal conditions to the dedicated professionals, conservationists and archivists taking care of these items each day, as well as designated work spaces for researchers.
In order to provide visitors with an opportunity to see and learn from the treasures preserved in the Shapell Collections Center, a gallery open to the public will display a rotation of some of the art, artifacts and archival materials as well.
Especially with the passing of the first generation of survivors, witnesses to the horrors of the Holocaust, the preservation of their stories and memories, as well as those of the six million Jewish victims, must be ensured for generations to come. In this way, Yad Vashem will be able to continue reaching out to the world with Jewish and universal values, helping to shape a more just society, a more tolerant humanity and a brighter future free from prejudice, antisemitism, hatred and xenophobia.
David z”l passed away in 2015, and today, his wife Fela and their children carry on the family’s sacred legacy. This Founding Gift towards the new David and Fela Shapell Family Collections Center stands as a testament to their years of dedication and support, their commitment to Yad Vashem, and their shared vision of the future of Holocaust remembrance.
“The signing of this vital agreement evokes meaningful memories for me of the many years of warm friendship and close bonds that I forged with David z”l and Fela Shapell. Knowing that their children have taken on the commitment of their parents is profoundly encouraging.”
Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev
This article originally appeared in the "Yad Vashem Jerusalem Magazine," volume 92
