What's New

After So Much Pain and Anguish: First Letters After Liberation

A special symposium, run by the Diana and Eli Zborowski Center for the Study of the Aftermath of the Holocaust of the International Institute for Holocaust Research, was held on October 6th, marking the publication of "After So Much Pain and Anguish: First Letters After Liberation" - a unique collection of survivor correspondence from the immediate aftermath of the Shoah. The symposium addressed the concept of writing in the immediate post war period as a rehabilitative tool. The letters in the anthology comprise a powerful, firsthand testimony and reflect the mixed emotions of the survivors - the sigh of relief intertwined with the anguish of irreparable loss. The publication was generously supported by Adina and Lawrence Burian.

International Conference for Leadership in Jewish Education

A first time International Conference for Leaders in Jewish education will convene during Chanukah, December 26th-29th, 2016 at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.  Among the goals of the Conference are exposing decision makers in Jewish education to the power, effectiveness, and creativity of the Yad Vashem methodology to Shoah studies.  The conference will provide Yad Vashem with an opportunity to hear about the desires and needs from those, “in the trenches” and to share ideas regarding the future of Shoah Education as times and circumstances in the world change.

Spotlight on the Web

Making Memory Relevant: Online Exhibitions Reflect Timely Events

Yad Vashem continually seeks to generate content that is timely and relevant to its online audiences. Ahead of the Jewish New Year, Yad Vashem's website highlighted an expanded and updated online exhibition entitled, Marking the New Year, utilizing testimony, artifacts, photos, cards and prayer books from Yad Vashem’s collections to offer a glimpse into some of the ways that Jews before, during and immediately after the Holocaust marked these special days. And with world attention on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Yad Vashem's website featured two unique online exhibitions commemorating both Jewish and non-Jewish athletes. The exhibitions were promoted in Yad Vashem’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels, to help share this meaningful and moving content with millions of people around the world.

Recent Events

Marking 75 Years since the Murders at Babi Yar

On October 9th, Yad Vashem held a memorial ceremony marking 75 years since the murder of the Jews in Ukraine, including Babi Yar, and adjacent areas. In addition, the Moshe Mirilashvili Center for Research on the Holocaust in the Soviet Union of the International Institute for Holocaust Research hosted a seminar at Yad Vashem, entitled "Killing Sites in the Occupied Territories of the Former USSR: History and Commemoration." The Seminar addressed how the local Jewish population commemorated the Jewish victims of various murder sites, specifically during the Soviet regime as well as focusing on the first stage of the implementation of the "Final Solution" in the occupied Soviet territories, and the earth-shattering discovery of the mass murder of Jews at killing sites near their places of residence.

Calendar 2016-17: A Selection of Portraits from Yad Vashem's Art Collection

A new desk calendar for 2016-2017 offers a selection of portraits from the Yad Vashem Art Collection. By portraying their brethren, the Jewish artists sought to leave a trace of each one's presence and identity for posterity, thus fighting the Nazis plan to annihilate the Jewish nation. As part of Yad Vashem's ongoing efforts to document the lives and identities of Jewish victims, whenever possible the name of the person portrayed and some informative details are noted. The result is a rare and fascinating human mosaic of individuals from different origins and backgrounds who shared the Jewish people's common fate during the darkest era in its history.

New Publications

A Boy from Buština/ A Son. A Survivor. A Witness.

By Andrew Burian

A sheltered boy from the small town of Buština (then Czechoslovakia, now Ukraine), Andrew had a beautiful carefree childhood. At the age of thirteen, his world was shattered. Andrew’s wartime odyssey began with deportation from his hometown to Mateszalka ghetto in Hungary. From there, Andrew and his family were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he survived countless selections and near death experiences. Andrew was ultimately liberated by the US army from the Gunskirchen concentration camp. Andrew’s journey took him through Hungary, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, England and, finally, the US where he made a new life.A Boy from Buština/ A Son. A Survivor. A Witness is available for purchase in the Yad Vashem online store.

News Highlights

Elie Wiesel, Auschwitz Survivor and Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dies at 87, in the New York Times
Fragments of history, in the Jerusalem Post
Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in the Museem.net
Yad Vashem Holocaust Seminar Helps Rwandans Commemorate Genocide, in the Algemeiner
Remembering Joseph Wilf, in YU News
Breaking News Project to Build Visual Memory of Places People Before During the Holocaust, in the Jewish Press
Two different Olympic Games, in the Brussels Times

With Your Support

Educating Future Generations

Photographs, stories and personal memories are all part of Yad Vashem's educational tools for teaching about the Jewish individuals and communities before, during and after the Holocaust. Your help allows us to continue educating future generations towards a better tomorrow.