Newsletter No. 30,  July  2013

On June 13, 2013 the new Permanent Exhibition SHOAH - curated, designed and built by Yad Vashem  in coordination with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum - opened at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Block 27. The event, which took place in Poland, was attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, five Israeli Government Ministers, the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Yad Vashem Council Chairman Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev and Curator of the Exhbition, Holocaust survivors and their families, and Israeli and Polish colleagues.

The new exhibition combines powerful visual displays with short texts that provide a profound experience for the nearly 1.5 million annual visitors to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Among the exhibitions are a vivid cinematic montage of prewar Jewish civilization, an inspired artistic compilation of fragments of authentic drawings by Jewish children before they were murdered, and the monumental "Book of Names." The exhibitionwas funded by the State of Israel with assistance from the Claims Conference.

New in the Exhibitions Pavilion

The new exhibition "I Am My Brother's Keeper – 50 years of Recongizing Righteous Among the Nations" opened at Yad Vashem’s Exhibitions Pavilion on June 26, 2013. Made possible by the generosity of Jan and Rick Cohen (USA) and the support of Jonathan Ferster (UK) and The Lauffer Family Charitable Trust (UK), the exhibition uses film to depict the varying efforts taken by non-Jews to aid Jews during the Holocaust.  It is divided into five paradigms, each highlighting the complex human situations involved, and each presenting a unique account.  The films provide an artistic visualization that succeeds in characterizing the different types of rescue stories and highlights the risky decisions with which the rescuers were confronted. An online exhibition complementing the exhibition has been uploaded to www.yadvashem.org.

Educators gather on the Mount of Remembrance

The International School for Holocaust Studies’ Fifth National Conference on Holocaust Education for Israeli Educators opened with the official appointment of Dr. Eyal Kaminka as the new Lily Safra Chair of Holocaust Education and Director of the International School. On July 1-2, some 1,200 teachers and educators from across Israel gathered on the Yad Vashem campus for the biennial event.  More than 140 workshops and lectures on diverse topics touched on subjects ranging from the use of Holocaust imagery in politics to theater and the performing arts during the Shoah. Among those participating in the event was Israeli Minister of Education Shai Piron and renown author Aharon Appelfeld.

Yad Vashem Ranked One of the Best Museums in the World

Yad Vashem was recently ranked fourth in the top 25 museums in the world by TripAdvisor, the foremost travel website driven by reviews of tourists and travelers. This summer, Yad Vashem was also awarded TripAdvisor's 2013 Certificate of Excellence Award. The honor is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews. The award is given to the top-performing 10% of all enterprises worldwide on its website. To qualify for a Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor.  Yad Vashem is currently listed as #1 among 146 recommended sites to visit in Jerusalem. 

Pages of Testimony Now Part of UNESCO World Memory Register

The Yad Vashem Pages of Testimony Memorial Repository has been included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register - the first  Israeli collection to be included in the registry. Since the inception of the project in 1954, 2.6 million names have been documented on Pages of Testimony, which together with other documentation have allowed Yad Vashem to identify by name 4.2 million out of the six million victims. The Pages of Testimony Memorial Repository is housed in the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem. The Memory of the World Register, founded in 1995, includes so far only 299 items worldwide endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO. To submit Pages of Testimony and to learn more about the Shoah Victims' Names Recovery Project contact: names.outreach@yadvashem.org.il

Books Reunited with Son 72 Years Later

"These books are the only thing that I have from my father…" During an emotional visit to Yad Vashem, Holocaust survivor Moshe Hofstadter received four books that belonged to his father Avraham who was murdered in the Holocaust. It took 72 years for Moshe Hofstadter to be reunited with his father's books. Read how Yad Vashem's Online Database of Shoah Victims' Names played a part in this story.

The End!

Radom and Szydֵ‚owiec Through the Eyes of a German Photographer

Editors: Bella Gutterman and Nina Springer-Aharoni
The photographic album of Radom and the nearby community of Szydֵ‚owiec is the work of an unknown German photographer who documented the scenes and events he had witnessed during his stay in this region, and later added short captions to the photos – the street scenes; the Jewish cemetery; the figures of the women, children and men; the suffering and the poverty of the Jews; and the exceptional and shocking scenes of the Jewish victims’ deportation as well as the looting of the property. This publication is a powerful photographic document that presents the end of two Jewish communities and reflects the fate of many other Jewish towns and villages in Poland.

Exhibition at Auschwitz-Birkenau Honors Children of Holocaust, in the New York Times
Netanyahu helps dedicate upgraded Holocaust exhibit at Auschwitz, in the Washington Post
Israel's PM opens historic exhibit at Auschwitz, in the Washington Examiner / AP
Israeli Premier Netanyahu opens Auschwitz exhibition, in Deutsche Welle
Israel's PM opens historic exhibit at Auschwitz, USA Today, AFP
Israeli Memorial Honors Rescuers of Jews in WWII, in ABC News/ AP
Yad Vashem exhibit honors less known Holocaust heroes, in the Times of Israel / AP
My brother's keeper: Yad Vashem spotlights Holocaust rescue stories, in Haaretz
Righteous Christians Who Saved Jews During Holocaust Honored for Their Sacrifice, in the Blaze
Goodbye to Berlin: Postcards from Nazi Germany tell story of the Kindertransport, in the Independent
ex-American woman named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem, in EJP
Return to Auschwitz: How Israel keeps Holocaust memories alive, in the BBC
Yad Vashem Ranked a Top Museum by Travel Website, in the Jewish Press / JTA

Help Ensure a Meaningful Experience for Every Visitor

Every morning hundreds of staff arrive at the Mount of Remembrance, not just to work, but to carry out a sacred mission. The efforts of our dedicated staff, and that of our wonderful friends and supporters who stand with us hand in hand, were recently recognized by TripAdvisor, who awarded Yad Vashem a Certificate of Excellence. Every inch of Yad Vashem’s beautiful campus, and every one of our staff is directed to ensuring a meaningful experience for every visitor: educating, raising awareness and providing them with the opportunities for reflection necessary to create a better future.

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To learn more about how you can support Yad Vashem's important activities to promote Holocaust education, commemoration, documentation and research, please contact the International Relations Division.