What's New

Holocaust Remembrance Day 2017

The central ceremony marking Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day was held at Yad Vashem on April 23, 2017 in the presence of the President of the State of Israel, the Prime Minister, survivors and their families and dignitaries from Israel and abroad. The ceremony was broadcast live on all Israeli television networks and also on Yad Vashem's website, YouTube channel and Facebook page, allowing thousands around the world to  take part virtually in the unique and moving event. A special mini-site was uploaded which includes the torchlighter stories and films, photos from the event and educational information about this year's theme, Restoring Their Identities: The Fate of the Individual During the Holocaust. Commemorative ceremonies took place on the Mount of Remembrance throughout the following day, including the wreath-laying ceremony and the recitation of Holocaust victims' names in the Hall of Remembrance.

For the third year running, the general public was invited to familiarize itself with the day-to-day work at Yad Vashem. On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yad Vashem experts presented Shoah-related documents, works of art and artifacts and explained special projects and challenges in order to illustrate the wide range of endeavors undertaken year round on the Mount of Remembrance.

The International School for Holocaust Studies coordinated diverse educational activities for thousands of high-school and college students from Israel and abroad culminating with a ceremony for youth movements in the Valley of the Communities. In addition  a number of musical performances were held as part of the "Music and Memory" project in cooperation with the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. Yad Vashem’s Family Plaza featured a gallery of photos of Holocaust survivors with their written recollections of the end of WWII and their present-day lives. The exhibition comprised the work of students from ORT schools across Israel, who gathered photographic and written documentation of Holocaust survivors living in their communities.

Spotlight on the Web

New! Yad Vashem Website in French

In March 2017, Yad Vashem launched a comprehensive website about the Holocaust in French. The website features a 50 chapter historical narrative about the Holocaust with related resources such as documents, video testimonies, documentary footage, artifacts, diaries and more. In addition, the website includes 10 online exhibitions as well as educational materials. An important additional resource is the Deportations Database, featuring information about deportations that originated in France or passed through French soil. Yad Vashem's Youtube Channel in French, launched at the same time, features over 180 video testimonies and films.  The French website and Youtube channel join Yad Vashem's existing websites and Youtube channels in English, Hebrew, German, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi and Russia.

New Publications

Such A Beautiful Sunny Day: Jews Seeking Refuge in the Polish Countryside, 1942-1945

By Barbara Engelking
Professor Barbara Engelking's groundbreaking study, Such A Beautiful Sunny Day: Jews Seeking Refuge in the Polish Countryside, 1942-1945, sheds light on an aspect of the Holocaust in Poland that has not been thoroughly discussed. Relatively little is known about the struggle of Jews who managed to escape to the Polish countryside and the threats and challenges they faced. Jewish refugees tried to hide in distant areas, further away from the tightening grip of the occupier. Some of them found shelter, although ultimately many encountered a hostile environment of local Poles ready to denounce them to the Germans or to participate in manhunts for rewards. In cases where they found refuge with Polish families, the dangers for both the Jews and their rescuers grew more acute as time passed. Based on a large number of survivors' accounts and never-before cited documents from postwar trials, this important book tells the untold story of Jewish struggle for survival in a complex landscape of fear, betrayal and death.

News Highlights

Polish historian’s book on killing of Jews exposes raw nerve, in the Associated Press
Yad Vashem Calls for International Action in Syria After Deadly Chemical Attack, in Haaretz
Yad Vashem Museum Urges Spicer to Learn About the Holocaust, in the Jerusalem Post
George Town teacher visits Israel for holocaust education conference, in the Examiner
Rare Holocaust-Era Matza Cover Goes on Display at Yad Vashem, in the Jerusalem Post
‘Last Letters’ exhibit offers bittersweet memories of Holocaust, in the Times of Israel
The Holocaust: Who are the missing million?, in the BBC

With Your Support

Last Letters from the Holocaust

Fanya Barbakow was born in 1923 in Druja, Poland. In 1942, her family was incarcerated in the Druja ghetto together with all of the town's Jews. They dug a bunker under the cellar in their garden where they hid during the ghetto's liquidation. Shortly before their hiding place was discovered and the family was murdered, Fanya wrote her final letter. She wrote: "My dear ones! I am writing this letter before my death, but I do not know the exact day that I... will be killed...I am proud to be a Jew... I am dying for the sake of my people... Brothers from all countries, avenge us... Farewell. Fanya". A Christian friend of the family found the letter and gave it to Fanya's nephew who had survived the war and later donated the letter to Yad Vashem for eternal safekeeping, guaranteeing that the story of Fanya's life will be documented for all eternity. Yad Vashem's new online exhibition Last Letters from the Holocaust - 1942: "On the Edge of a Volcano" brings more of these heartwarming stories to light. Yad Vashem needs your support to gather these last fragments and to safeguard them for future generations.