Yad VaJerusalemhem QUARTERLY MAGAZINE, Special Edition, December 2013

Yad Vashem Marks 60Years and 20 Years of the International School Yad VaJerusalemhem QUARTERLY MAGAZINE, VOL. 71, Tevet 5774, December 2013 SPECIAL EDITION Contents Published by: “Not Just a History Lesson” ■ 2-5 “Not Just a History Lesson” Yad Vashem Avner Shalev Speaks about the Achievements The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority and Challenges of Yad Vashem in the 21st Century ■ Leah Goldstein Chairman of the Council: Rabbi Israel Meir Lau Message from Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, ■ 5 Vice Chairmen of the Council: Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council Dr. Yitzhak Arad "So That Future Generations Dr. Moshe Kantor ■ Avner Shalev assumed his position as Will Know…" ■ 6-7 Prof. Elie Wiesel Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate some Public Commemoration and Guiding Activities Chairman of the Directorate: Avner Shalev two decades ago, in an era of great change Director General: Dorit Novak Our Partners in Making and volatility worldwide. A man with a clear Head of the International Institute for Holocaust the Vision a Reality ■ 8-9 vision and a resolute mission, he has undoubtedly Research: Prof. Dan Michman The Archives ■ 10-11 changed the face, scope and pace of the Holocaust Chief Historian: Prof. Dina Porat From Collection to Accessibility Remembrance Authority, building upon the Academic Advisors: foundations laid in its formation by Shoah Prof. Yehuda Bauer The Photo Collection ■ 11 Prof. Israel Gutman z"l survivors, establishing it as a world-class center ■ 11 Members of the Yad Vashem Directorate: The Footage Collection of archival and research expertise, and placing education at the “very center of its enterprise” Yossi Ahimeir, Edna Ben-Horin, Michal Cohen, The Names Database ■ 12-13 Matityahu Drobles, Abraham Duvdevani, Unto Every Person There is a Name for the sake of the generations to follow. Prof. Boleslaw (Bolek) Goldman, As Yad Vashem marks 60 years since Vera H. Golovensky, Moshe Ha-Elion, The Art Collection ■ 14-15 Adv. Shlomit Kasirer, Yehiel Leket, its establishment, Shalev reflects upon the Effi Shtensler, Baruch Shub, Dr. Zehava Tanne, Fulfilling the Artists’ Last Will institution’s significant accomplishments as Adv. Shoshana Weinshall, Dudi Zilbershlag The Artifacts Collection ■ 15 well as the substantial challenges it faces in A Broad Mosaic of Memory the 21st century: THE MAGAZINE The Testimonies Collection ■ 16 Editor-in-Chief: Iris Rosenberg Individual Stories, Collective Memory When you were appointed Managing Editor: Leah Goldstein Chairman of the Directorate, Editorial Board: Intensifying Efforts to Gather what were your main Yifat Bachrach-Ron the Fragments ■ 17 Deborah Berman motivating forces for the Richard Mann The International Institute ■ 18-19 changes that were to follow? Susan Weisberg Cornerstones of Holocaust Research Cynthia Wroclawski As we approached the new millennium, I foresaw ■ 20 Estee Yaari Yad Vashem Publications Yad Vashem’s arrival at a critical historic Editorial Coordinator: Lilach Tamir-Itach A Legacy of Stories in Print juncture, which required thorough and effective Language Editor: Leah Goldstein Yad Vashem Studies ■ 21 preparation and responses. Yad Vashem had Proofreader: Ezra Olman At the Heart of Academic Discourse already initiated and conducted many successful Translated by: KPoint endeavors: building the foundations of the The Library ■ 22 Assisted by: Alexander Avram, Mount of Remembrance campus, thus creating a Shaya Ben Yehuda, Yossi Gevir An Island of Information place of meaning and inspiration for Holocaust Photography: Yossi Ben-David, Isaac Harari The Visual Center ■ 23 commemoration; already gathering the names Production: Ahva Printing Press Company Ltd. A Repository of Holocaust Cinema of some 1.4 million Shoah victims; instituting Design: Stephanie & Ruti Design The Museum Complex ■ 24-25 a central archive and library of information Design of the Yad Vashem 60 Years Logo: about the Holocaust; conducting the project to Ossi Kupfer A Source of Inspiration recognize the Righteous Amoung the Nations; This magazine was published with the The International School ■ 26-27 and nurturing Jewish-oriented, world-class assistance of The Azrieli Group. A World Center for Holocaust Teaching academic research to increase and substantiate ISSN 0793-7199 Increasing Holocaust Education our knowledge base regarding the Shoah. ©Articles appearing in this issue may be reprinted around the World ■ 28-29 Given these major previous accomplishments, with proper acknowledgement. Teaching Without Trauma ■ 30-31 I understood that we had to update our priorities. Yad Vashem’s activities are supported by More and more young people were being Expanding the Network ■ 30-31 exposed, sometimes haphazardly, to portions the Ministry of Education Yad Vashem Online ■ 32-33 of the Shoah narrative. This exposure was and the Claims Conference Technology in the Service of Memory potentially influential, sometimes significantly so, on both their personal and collective Righteous Among the Nations ■ 34-35 Courageous and Kind identities – in terms of how they viewed themselves and others – thus impacting their Landmarks in the History behaviors and basic life choices. In order to ■ 36 of Yad Vashem enhance the meaning of Holocaust remembrance 2 “Not Just a History Lesson” Avner Shalev Speaks about the Achievements and Challenges of Yad Vashem in the 21st Century

strategic pillar of Yad Vashem’s activity was to build a school right here, on the Mount of Remembrance. Today our School has become almost a given, but back then I had to persevere in order to persuade others to get “on board” with me on this. Some questioned the idea and thought to themselves: “Why build a school in a ‘virtual cemetery’? What will this School actually do?” But I knew we had to undergo a deep change in the way the Shoah was taught, from a mere lesson or course in history to a comprehensive, insightful, mature utilization of the vast range of materials, knowledge and knowhow that we had already amassed. If we wanted a different, more meaningful approach to Holocaust education, we needed to, as it were, have our expert historians “share” the Shoah with skilled and inspiring educators. I set about nurturing an entire cadre of professional educators who, in addition to their solid historical grounding, would work with successive generations of students and teachers in rapidly changing educational environments – in Israel and worldwide. Yad Vashem’s unique advantage was that for the younger generations – as something in the tangible dimension of Yad Vashem’s we already had all the resources to feed this more than a mere obligatory ritual – I realized expanded campus. Accordingly, I sought to educational endeavor. we had to place education at the very center of ensure that natural light and the surrounding At that time, the skeptics claimed that our enterprise and work to speak to the third scenic view would reach those sitting in our we would require a maximum of six to seven and fourth post-Shoah generations, in their own new Archives and Library Building, learning classrooms. Today, 20 years later, we fill 37 language. For this purpose, we needed to build an in our new International School and touring classrooms daily, and host some 300,000 International School for Holocaust Studies. our new Museum Complex. participants per year in our educational As we began to face this great challenge I knew that the implementation of our programs. This reflects our indisputable during the early 1990s, it quickly became clear vision was dependent upon strengthening our achievements in this critical field. In addition that Yad Vashem was at least a decade behind in partnerships with friends and supporters from to the vast majority of Israeli public school introducing advanced technology in the active all over the world, Jews and non-Jews alike. students participating in some kind of service of Holocaust remembrance. I understood Our friends, in our Societies worldwide and as educational activity at Yad Vashem sometime that we had to set about digitizing our systems and individuals, joined forces with us to make it during their high school years, thousands of making our information and knowledge widely happen, and continue to fulfill their vital role educators from overseas have come to recognize accessible to the entire world. Furthermore, I came in our ongoing efforts. that the Shoah has universal importance for to understand that this wave of strategic change One of the first things you did inculcating values in the coming generations. must also include the immediate construction of Our ongoing, meaningful discussions with these a new, state-of-the-art documentation facility as Chairman was to establish professionals have engendered a compelling to house our treasure of precious and fragile the International School for new discourse devoted to a value-based archival materials, as well as a new museum Holocaust Studies. What were Holocaust education that employs central devoted to the history of the Holocaust, designed your original motivations in Shoah-related texts, themes and insights in accordance with Yad Vashem’s rejuvenated this regard and how have they in order to help young people integrate as outlook. These were my core goals as we looked been accomplished? constructive citizens of a modern, democratic ahead to the new millennium. world and create a deeper connection among This new approach of infusing life with I realized that the only effective way to young students. meaningful memory also needed to be reflected ensure that education would become a central 60 years of Yad Vashem 3 I realized we had to place education We set about digitizing our at the very center of our enterprise systems and making our and work to speak to the third and information and knowledge fourth post-Shoah generations, in widely accessible to the their own language entire world

A decade ago, Yad Vashem Today, as people around the world connect via of our areas of activity: building meaningful uploaded the Central Database the Internet and social media, Yad Vashem is at knowledge and profound awareness about of Shoah Victims’ Names, a the forefront of the dissemination of accurate, the Holocaust, and developing Shoah­-related accessible information about the Holocaust. learning communities around the world, together significant achievement in the Consistently earning worldwide acclaim, with our International School. dissemination of information our Internet Department and Information In the future, we plan to upload an updated about the Holocaust worldwide. Technology Division continue to digitize version of our signature, comprehensive What do you see as the major increasing amounts of archival and other Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, further advantages of technology related information and promote Holocaust strengthening our status as the foremost resource in the service of Holocaust remembrance and education. for authentic information on the Holocaust. remembrance? Of course, advanced technology not only allows for widespread accesibility to information, You were the Chief Curator By the early 1990s, it was clear that global but also, via easy access and links to our vast of the new Holocaust History communication was becoming increasingly databases, promotes more in-depth study Museum, which some one geared towards, and taking place within, the of chosen topics. For example, after being million people visit each year. contexts of online media. Anyone that wasn’t directed to Yad Vashem via a name, event yet there – on the Internet or other platforms How do you think the Museum or geographical location, our user-friendly Complex has contributed to the that it was facilitating – was destined to lose website provides online access to extensive their relevance. It was therefore urgent that Yad information and resources in many languages, understanding of the Shoah Vashem set about harnessing the most advanced including Arabic and Farsi: archival documents, from the Jewish viewpoint? technologies for our purposes. Accordingly, online testimonies, original photos, data on Having developed our vital new principles and we commenced with the digitization of our Holocaust topics and terminology, and much methods of Holocaust education, enhanced our information resources, the largest of which was more. Technology has therefore gone from research activity and dramatically updated our the Names Database, followed soon thereafter being a supportive arm at Yad Vashem to a technological infrastructure, it remained for by a robustly designed and operated website. major strategic asset, advancing nearly all us to position a new museum as a highlight of Worldwide Recognition ■ As Yad Vashem has increased its presence on plethora of international prizes and honors for In addition, different departments have the world stage, the Remembrance Authority’s the range of its vital work. been cited by national media and educational peerless strides towards global Holocaust In 2007, Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev bodies for their exemplary contributions towards remembrance and education have received was honored to accept the Prince of Asturias the global dissemination of Holocaust-related international renown and recognition. Award for Concord (pictured) on behalf of Yad information, and UNESCO recently declared the Following the acceptance of Israel’s most Vashem for its “outstanding contribution to… Pages of Testimony Repository bearing Shoah the struggle against injustice or ignorance victims’ names part of its Memory of the World [and]… whose work has widened the horizons of Register. For the past seven years, the Yad knowledge.” A day later, Shalev was presented Vashem website has won the notable People and with the Légion d’Honneur by French President Computers Magazine Special Category WebiAward Nicolas Sarkozy for his “determined activity that for outstanding websites. Dignitaries from across is suffused with passion and inspiration.” the globe and world travelers – who recently Alongside the awards bestowed upon rated Yad Vashem the fourth “top museum in Yad Vashem as a leading expert in Holocaust the world” on TripAdvisor – regard a tour of commemoration, prestigious awards from the Mount of Remembrance as “a life-changing countries around the world, including Hungary, experience.” Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, the Yad Vashem is committed to maintaining US, Spain and Germany, have been presented and increasing its efforts even further afield, so to Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem that more and more individuals and communities esteemed prize in 2003 – “The Israel Prize for Council Rabbi Israel Meir Lau and many other across the globe may benefit from its world- Lifetime Achievement: A Unique Contribution members of the Yad Vashem staff, who have class archives, publications, exhibitions and to Society and the State” – Yad Vashem has, been personally honored for their dedication pedagogic material in the cause of Holocaust over the past decade, been the recipient of a and outstanding achievements. remembrance. 4 It is impossible to begin to deal with the Holocaust or start to grasp its meanings without learning about those who were most directly affected: the Jewish victims and the survivors

the new face of Yad Vashem. I stipulated two the centrality of the meanings of the Shoah basic requirements: first, that the Museum tell in contemporary society. Message from the story of the Shoah from the perspective of In addition to the chronological challenge, Rabbi Israel Meir the individual – that is, to highlight the human we are also faced with prevalent trends towards dimensions of the story, as we had already historical revisionism: the efforts by others – Lau, Chairman been doing in our innovative educational whether for nationalistic, pseudo-liberal, of the Yad endeavors – without sacrificing the accuracy antisemitic or religious motives – to reduce the of genuine historical context; and, second, that prominence of Holocaust remembrance in favor Vashem Council the Museum emphasize the tragically unique of commemorating other perceived historical ■ Sixty years is a significant period of time. Jewish experience of the Holocaust, based on injustices. This so-called “battle over memory,” Indeed, in The Ethics of the Fathers, our sages the extensive and varied Jewish sources at Yad which transpires in many societies, including note that “at sixty, one has reached old age.” Vashem’s disposal. For it is impossible to begin Israel, places a particular mantle of responsibility But the Talmud says, “A zaken (old person, to deal with the Holocaust or start to grasp its upon Yad Vashem: to keep our efforts vital and i.e., worthy of veneration) is only one who has meanings without learning about those who relevant, and to continue Holocaust research acquired wisdom.” were most directly affected: the Jewish victims and the evolution of a midrash (source-based Six decades ago, when Yad Vashem was and the survivors. explication) of the Shoah that is applicable to first established, it was built on the still burning Therefore, as in our educational endeavors, every human audience, whatever its cultural, embers of the Holocaust. It was clear that some the Museum Complex and our wealth of ethnic or social background. kind of center had to be established to chronicle traveling exhibitions tell the story of the Shoah How do we achieve this? We must place the most horrific chapter in modern Jewish by utilizing original artifacts, documentation, greater emphasis on building and developing history. However, it is doubtful whether the testimonies, film, literature, diaries, letters and our educational and technological capabilities. original builders of Yad Vashem could have works of art. The deft synthesis of these diverse For the Jewish people, that means ensuring that envisioned the global impact of the work being channels of personal expression through a the events of the Shoah remain a part of their done here today. Over the years, Yad Vashem multisensory and multidimensional experience identity; in the international circle, it must has indeed acquired the wisdom of how to enables the visitor to internalize a wealth of persist in being an important part of global meaningfully impart the history of this dark invaluable information. We believe that a discourse that will build and strengthen the and devastating period. tour of our Museum Complex or a visit to basic values of human existence: the right of In the five years that I have had the privilege one of our temporary exhibitions will provide every individual to life, property and expression; of serving as the Chairman of the Yad Vashem visitors with an enlightening and memorable and the fight against racism, xenophobia and Council, I have seen how the educational, experience, generating human compassion and antisemitism. To this end, we must continue to research and documentation activities of the raising their personal commitment to worthy build and fortify Yad Vashem's bonds with our Holocaust Remembrance Authority continue to moral values and practices. loyal supporters worldwide. reach newer and broader audiences. We now As the work of a generation of survivors know the names of 4.3 million of the six million What are Yad Vashem’s major at Yad Vashem approaches a natural close, Jews murdered in the Shoah; we are teaching new generations of dedicated men and challenges for the coming educators from China to Venezuela about the women, many of them born in Israel and not decade? Shoah; and we are preserving and digitizing necessarily the children of survivors, see their documents of great historic significance As the events of the Shoah recede with time, work here as their life’s calling. Yad Vashem is regarding the Shoah for generations to come. we must ensure that it is never viewed as blessed with a rare and outstanding group of In 1945, I was a small boy virtually alone merely “another historical event,” relegated professional, talented workers. Their fervent in the world, just released from the crucible of to competing for attention against other wish is to dedicate themselves to our mission, the camps. Those experiences have shaped who events and phenomena, or as irrelevant to the to serve this institution and realize its ideals I am, and have become an integral part of my contemporary human situation. Furthermore, year after year. life. I have spent decades telling my story; at the gradual disappearance of the survivor For the Shoah is not a closed chapter in Yad Vashem, I know that my story – among the generation already places a formidable human history; it remains an integral component many, many others that make up the mosaic of test before us: when survivors share their of our identity, society and culture. From the the Jewish experience during the Shoah – will stories, they elevate our efforts upon an Mount of Remembrance (Har Hazikaron) in continue to be told, so that those who hear undisputedly ethical platform; their presence Jerusalem, Yad Vashem shall continue to lead them will recommit themselves to a brighter, and involvement provide moral vigor to the effort to educate humanity towards a more and wiser, future. our mission. Without them, we will find it responsible and tolerant existence. increasingly difficult to illustrate to others 60 years of Yad Vashem 5 "So That Future Generations Will Know…"

Rachel Barkai

■ “From its first day, I saw Yad Vashem over the years, is always placed at the heart of as my home for the sake of ‘Zachor' - the every public activity held either on the Mount THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE obligation to remember. After the opening of Remembrance in Jerusalem or at special of the Museum, I understood the implication: events held across the country. “What my eyes saw was burned when we are no longer here, Yad Vashem is our Within the Commemoration and Public into my memory…Today I successor in passing on ‘Zachor' from generation Relations Division, which is responsible for celebrate my personal revival to generation.” all of the above as well as Yad Vashem’s and my beautiful family… they Holocaust Survivor Fanny Englard online activities (see pp. 32-33), is the Events Department, Guiding Department and Official symbolize my great victory.” Yad Vashem holds a wide range of Visits Unit, which work together to hold the Mendy Porat (Fruchter), at the commemorative activities throughout the range of ceremonies, visits and meetings that commemoration service marking 70 calendar year – from Israel’s official Holocaust take place very year at Yad Vashem and across years since the Iasi pogrom Remembrance Day and VE Day events to more Israel. Following the dedication of the new intimate commemorative gatherings; from Museum Complex in March 2005, the need state and official visits to guided tours for arose to train guides to expertly explain the different lost communities across Europe and public and private organizations; and from permanent exhibitions in the Holocaust History North Africa; Pages of Testimony and personal assemblies of survivors and next generations Museum and Museum for Holocaust Art. Every artifacts were patiently and expertly gathered to concerts, exhibition openings, honoring year, dozens of guides speaking many languages by Yad Vashem staff, and a lively panel was Righteous Among the Nations and other are trained at Yad Vashem to ensure that those held on “The Pain of Liberation and the Return cultural happenings. All of these events, large visitors guided across the Mount of Remembrance to Life.” In addition, artists, actors, writers and and small, take a great amount of preparation undergo a meaningful experience. journalists discussed the impact of the Shoah on and planning, both logistically and in terms Yad Vashem is also an “open house” for their creative endeavors, and a special concert of the content of the event itself. This content, survivors. In May 2005, some 9,000 survivors and entitled “Songs from My Father’s Home,” held based upon the profound historical knowledge family members from Israel and abroad attended in the Valley of the Communities, ended this of the lecturers and guides, on Yad Vashem’s a special conference entitled “Generation to exceptional day. vast archival information, on testimonies and Generation.” At this unique gathering, meeting Many of the survivors’ children and on personal artifacts gathered by Yad Vashem points were flooded by landsmen hailing from grandchildren attended the conference, as they 6 "So That Future Generations Will Know…" Public Commemoration and Guiding Activities

realized the great importance of taking upon of the Jewish world before the Holocaust and Special interest groups are always welcomed themselves the task of Holocaust commemoration the relevant community, discussions about at Yad Vashem. In recent years, members of and education in the 21st century. Since Yiddish and Ladino cultures, heroic tales of the Kindertransport were invited to a unique then, members of the Second and Third Jews and non-Jews during the Shoah, and conference; organized visits were held for Generations have significantly increased the fascinating tales behind personal items “Tehran children” and “children with borrowed their connection to, and activities with, Yad donated to Yad Vashem by survivors and their identities”; hearing-impaired visitors received Vashem. The “Dorot Hemshech” (Generation to families. Historians, researchers and experts specialized tours of the site; a concluding Generation) organization in Israel has also held on particular Holocaust-related topics are on gathering took place for Holocaust survivors an increasing number of public forums, social the ever-expanding list of guest speakers at who were among the founders of the Israel Air events and lecture series in conjunction with annual and special events, as of course are Force and gave testimony as part of the “From the Holocaust Remembrance Authority, that a venerable group of Holocaust survivors, Survival to the Skies” project; and meaningful bolster the connection between survivors and some of whom volunteer to speak to groups ceremonies were held for celebrants of bar their descendants, enrich the knowledge of the dozens of times a year. Lectures are naturally and bat mitzvahs participating in the unique next generations, and strengthen their capacity matched to the audience: so, for example, in “twinning” program, in which the young adult to continue their families’ legacies. addition to specialized tours of the Holocaust adopts the memory of a child who was murdered The programs for the dozens of annual History Museum, a visit by a law office may before they had a chance to celebrate their own events and meetings organized by the be given a specialized tour of the exhibition coming-of-age. Commemoration and Public Relations Division marking 50 years since the Eichmann trial and As we mark six decades of commemorative that take place at Yad Vashem and elsewhere an in-depth analysis of its impact on Israeli activity at Yad Vashem, its staff continues to work are always infused with a lecture by an expert society; a group of doctors and nurses may together to provide programs rich with intellectual in the field, a survivor testimony or a relevant hear testimony about medicine in ghettos and and experiential content so that members of artistic performance, in order to broaden concentration camps; Russian-speaking visitors the public – of all ages, religions, nationalities the participants’ historical knowledge and may be exposed to testimonies of those who and social backgrounds – may continue to provide them with a greater understanding of endured Nazi occupation in the Former Soviet find relevance and meaning in their ongoing the wide-ranging educational and research Union; and journalists may examine archival encounters with Holocaust remembrance. activities undertaken by Yad Vashem. Lectures German propaganda as well as underground The author is Director of the Commemoration and are offered on a variety of topics: overviews Jewish newspapers. Public Relations Division. 60 years of Yad Vashem 7 Our Partners in Making the Vision a Reality Shaya Ben Yehuda

■ Whenever one of my colleagues is asked on the globe. From Australia to Alaska, from where he or she works, and they answer South America to the countries of the FSU, Asia, THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE simply “Yad Vashem,” people invariably say Europe and Africa – one can find donors of "Yad Vashem is, without a doubt, something about the importance of the place, its Yad Vashem in every part of the world. Among achievements, and its centrality in the overall them are philanthropic organizations and public the most influential and active Jewish and Israeli experience. foundations operating in Israel, thousands of institution in safeguarding the These reactions instantly take us back to members of the Israel Society for Yad Vashem, memory of the Holocaust." our donors, bringing to mind those partners and Israeli citizens who have no direct personal Joseph Gottdenker without whom Yad Vashem would not be connection with the Holocaust but give their able to meet the challenges and objectives set support and seek to become partners in the cause before it. With deep appreciation we remember pursued by Yad Vashem. We also appreciate the challenge of making the Yad Vashem Archives Eli Zborowski, z”l, the first Chairman of the the support of our Christian Friends, who view accessible to the broad public has gained central American Society for Yad Vashem. In the their partnership with Yad Vashem as building importance, and we have directed our efforts early 1980s, Eli approached the Yad Vashem bridges and establishing a common language. In towards the development and deployment of Directorate requesting, on behalf of world numerous countries, Friends’ societies and the state-of-the-art technological tools. During this Jewry and Holocaust survivors in particular, donors driving them forward allow us to avail time, the scope of our educational endeavors also that every Jew, wherever they are, be given the Remembrance Authority of the necessary expanded exponentially. Thanks to our donors we the opportunity to become its partner. This resources to engage in large-scale educational were able to build the new International Seminars is what brought about the establishment of work the world over. Wing of the International School for Holocaust Friends of Yad Vashem societies all over the Alongside our individual supporters, Studies, as well as meet the challenges of the world, and made possible the construction of the Claims Conference was instrumental in new hi-tech era. the Valley of the Communities as well as the establishing Yad Vashem and continues to stand Every day, as we enter the gates of the Mount Children’s Memorial. by us faithfully to this day. Our deep gratitude of Remembrance, we know that without our donors The commitment of our donors and their and appreciation are also due to both private none of our accomplishments would have been deeply ingrained recognition of the central and public foundations around the world possible. It is a privilege for each and every one role of Yad Vashem is an expression of Jewish that view the work of commemoration and of us to act on their behalf in fulfilling the vital solidarity, identification with our collective fate, remembrance as a task of utmost importance missions entrusted to us by the State of Israel and and a desire that unites us all – to remember for all humanity. the Jewish people. the past and thus secure the future. Today, this Nearly a decade has passed since we opened The author is Managing Director of the International partnership reaches across every continent the new Museum Complex. During this decade, Relations Division. 8 Strategic Partners: Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson ■ Patrons of the Mount of Remembrance in has facilitated the visit of hundreds of thousands Jerusalem, Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson of young Jewish students to Yad Vashem. This Embracing the Legacy are exemplary, consistent benefactors of life-changing experience connects them with Yad Vashem who have personally initiated their nation’s history and strengthens their Jewish of the Survivors and partnered in an impressive array of Yad identity in a common quest for a brighter future ■ Leonard (Lenny) Wilf (pictured, right), Vashem activities, primarily in the area of for the Jewish people. the son of Holocaust survivors, has always Holocaust education. On several occasions the Adelsons have had a relationship with the Holocaust that is The Adelsons’ unique bond with Yad Vashem expressed the motivation for their extraordinary “deeply and obviously” personal. His parents, began in the early 1990s, when their first generous relationship with Yad Vashem. Mr. Adelson has survivors Harry and Judith, z”l, dedicated their contribution provided the computer infrastructure described the privilege he and his wife feel to be necessary to start Yad Vashem’s progress towards able to contribute to the continuity of the Jewish digital information proficiency. Several years later, people, and pledged never to forget the Holocaust. they endowed Yad Vashem’s new and unique “We are proud to partner with Yad Vashem to Museum of Holocaust Art. In 2006, the Adelsons ensure the continuation of its vital educational substantially increased their vigorous involvement activities,” he stated. “We encourage others to join with Yad Vashem, undertaking a multiyear us in supporting Yad Vashem in its crucial work.” commitment of unprecedented support. Their “We have seen the incredible impact of Yad Vashem successive donations over the past several years seminars on educators of all backgrounds,” added constitute by far the largest private contribution Dr. Adelson. “We look to these educators to bring ever received by Yad Vashem. Earmarked almost the meanings of the Shoah to their students… entirely for Holocaust education, this munificent That way, there is a greater assurance that it will lives to educating the future generations about contribution has revolutionized the ability of never be forgotten.” what had happened to the Jewish people: “My the Remembrance Authority to conceive, create parents lived it, they told me about it. It’s now and implement extensive teaching activities of essential that the next generation takes up unparalleled scope and variety: seminars for this cause.” overseas and Israeli teachers, comprehensive Lead Benefactors of Yad Vashem’s Holocaust tours of the Yad Vashem Museum by IDF officers History Museum and the Entrance Plaza in front and soldiers, customized interactive web-based of the Visitors’ Center, Wilf family members also courses, and much more. In addition, their served in crucial founding and leadership roles in unwavering support of the Taglit Birthright project the American Society for Yad Vashem, for which they have been honored on many occasions. In addition, the Wilfs generously endowed the Yad Vashem Square adjacent to Mount Herzl Generations of Support and underwrote the ongoing project to record firm and becoming prominent members of the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Jewish community. Throughout their lives, they After Harry Wilf passed away, Lenny began devoted themselves to Holocaust education, working closely with Eli Zborowski, z”l (left), commemoration and remembrance: Gladys in expanding the American Society. Eli, the and Sam Halpern were major supporters of Society’s founder, was a “powerhouse in his Yad Vashem as Benefactors of the Valley of the commitment for Holocaust remembrance and Communities and through their endowment of the education,” remembers Lenny, who took over Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations. as Chairman of the American Society after Eli’s This past October, Sam Halpern passed passing in 2012. “After the worst of times, after away at the age of 93, two months after his going through the hell of the Holocaust, Eli was ■ For three generations, Sam Halpern, z”l, his last visit to Yad Vashem. Yad Vashem mourns determined to succeed.” The closeness that Lenny wife Gladys and their family have served as the loss of such a great leader and inspiring and Eli shared gave Lenny deep insight into Eli’s models for the legacy of the survivors as well human being. His memory lives on through his driving force, and secured his commitment to as steadfast supporters of Yad Vashem. family, as the torch of remembrance is passed continuing along Eli’s path. Both Sam and Gladys bear personal stories on to the next generations: the Halperns’ “Eli was most passionate about education,” of great darkness and sparks of light during son David and daughter-in-law Sharon are Lenny says. “And he displayed that by making the Holocaust: after escaping the Kamionka Pillars of the Children’s Terrace at the exit of the American Society’s Young Leadership concentration camp, Sam benefitted from the the Children’s Memorial; and their grandson Associates a top priority. The success of that kindness of Christian rescuers, later honored Jeremy and his wife Abbi are deeply involved program is evident, with young people eager to as Righteous Among the Nations. Gladys (née with the American Society’s Young Leadership attend events commemorating the Holocaust and Landau) escaped from the Lvov ghetto, and was Associates, and have also made their own supporting the crucial work of Yad Vashem. Eli hidden by a Polish family until liberation. Sam personal commitment to Yad Vashem. From established a way for the younger generations to and Gladys were married in Bayreuth, Germany generation to generation, the Halpern family understand and internalize their history. I have and immigrated to the United States in 1949. has displayed their unwavering commitment to tremendous respect for Eli and the work that he In America, the Halperns rebuilt their lives, Holocaust remembrance: they are true partners did, and I am wholly committed to preserving starting a leading real estate development in both our mission and our task. his legacy in the years to come.” 60 years of Yad Vashem 9 The Archives From Collection to Accessibility Dr. Haim Gertner

■ Gathering Holocaust-related information of the success, alongside the challenge, is the into digital files, as was the collection of original and making it accessible to the public is a collection of Holocaust victims' names: today film footage and Holocaust-themed movies. central component of Yad Vashem’s mission. we know the individual identities of some 4.3 Today, this digitized anthology comprises over Over the past decade, Yad Vashem greatly million of those murdered, yet the final third 220,000 hours of video and audio material. expanded its collection efforts around the remain a mystery (see pp. 12-13). world, doubling the number of documents, both In order to make all of the information at THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE originals and copies, held in its Archives. During its disposal accessible to the public, as well as this period, the Archives signed more than 50 to find new ways and means of discovering “Had it not been for Yad agreements to copy documents contained in the further information, in recent years Yad Vashem Vashem I never would have various archives of Central and Eastern Europe, initiated the digital scanning of all its documents, had what I now know. I lost as well as the Former Soviet Union. Through photographs, names, lists and other data. This my entire family… I was totally these agreements, and thanks to the broad is an extremely challenging and complicated cooperation and financial support received from mission: Holocaust-era documents, photographs, alone. The records provide both private donors and public foundations, testimonies and film clips are arranged in some consolation. Their Yad Vashem has been able to gather some 3.5 many configurations and written in dozens of names are recorded million pages of documentation every year, languages, and must be sorted and organized for posterity.” and today the Archives hold some 154 million for professional cataloguing. In addition, many pages of documentation. have to undergo a range of restoration and Prof. David Weiss-Halivni In 2010, Yad Vashem launched the “Gathering conservation treatments and then be converted the Fragments" campaign in Israel to rescue into accessible formats. The vast amount and personal items from the Holocaust period. So particular complexity of the digital material Second, some 450,000 original photographs were far, this nationwide effort has brought about the means that the IT Division must continuously scanned, and today much of the Yad Vashem collection of 102,000 items and testimonies from invest in state-of-the-art equipment and photographic collection is available for viewing thousands of donors (see p. 17). Yet the work is technology, as well as in comprehensive storage online. The methodical scanning of Yad Vashem’s far from over. Tens of millions of Holocaust- and backup services. enormous collection of documents followed: related documents and innumerable artifacts In the first stage, all video and audio advanced digitization hubs were set up on the remain scattered across the globe, with many testimonies of Holocaust survivors stored in the Yad Vashem campus, in order to avoid moving of them hidden from public view. An example Yad Vashem Archives (see p. 16) were converted the fragile documents and to reduce project costs. 10 Yad Vashem's Collections contain: • 154 million pages of documentation • 450,000 photographs • 112,000 testimonies – video, audio and written • 27,500 personal artifacts • 9,000 works of art • 700 titles of original film footage The Photo Collection

This major-scale digitization project was built ■ “Mendel pulls out his camera. No more as images of Holocaust remembrance around and deployed using the most advanced tools, flowers, clouds, nature, stills, landscapes. Amid the world. The photographs, 150,000 of which specially customized for the task by Yad Vashem the horror all around him, he has found his are attached to Pages of Testimony, come from technology experts. Those knowledgeable in destiny: to photograph, and leave behind a a variety of sources – official archives, private Holocaust history and proficient in the various testimony for all generations about the great collections, museums and various historic languages sort and scan the material under tragedy unfolding before his eyes.” collections – and represent an invaluable asset the supervision of professionals in the field Thus Arieh Ben Menahem describes the to historians, educators, writers, filmmakers of conservation and technology. This highly work of the Lodz ghetto photographer Mendel and the public at large.” qualified team currently scans over 1.5 million Grossman in his book, With a Camera in the In May 2008, Yad Vashem began to upload pages of documentation every month. To date, Ghetto (Hebrew). Ben Menahem was himself its historic photo collection to the Internet. To some two-thirds of the documents stored in a photographer who worked as Grossman’s date, some 300,000 images are available for the Archives have been converted into digital assistant during the war. Grossman died in viewing online via the Yad Vashem website; files, and may be accessed by the public via April 1944 in a German labor camp, but Ben viewers may conduct searches of the database computers installed at Yad Vashem. Menahem survived the Holocaust and, thanks to by topic, name or geographical location. Every Simultaneously, Yad Vashem has gradually him, hundreds of photographs the two men took photograph in the database is also linked to started to upload its databases and collections in the ghetto made their way to Yad Vashem. existing information about its content and, when of documents to the Internet. Since the Central “Yad Vashem’s photographic collection a photograph is selected for viewing, a Google Database of Shoah Victims’ Names went online began with the gathering of individual and map automatically opens showing the location in 2004, Yad Vashem has doubled its volume group photographs immediately after WWII,” of the places mentioned in the caption. But the and upgraded and fully overhauled its user explains Dr. Daniel Uziel, Director of the Yad collection is not just for viewing: wherever interface, and today it is accessible in five Vashem Photo Archive. “To date, the Photo possible, the public is encouraged to decipher languages. The Yad Vashem Photo Archive has Archive comprises some 450,000 original the pictures and identify the people in them, also been upgraded and updated several times, photographs covering the lives of the Jews thus fulfilling the last wish of the Holocaust followed by the Library Catalogue, the Online before, during and after the Holocaust, as well victims, including Mendel Grossman. Film Database and the Righteous Among the Nations Database. Millions of people around the world view these data and document collections every year. Many additional challenges are still faced The Footage by Yad Vashem: continuing to rescue original artifacts from the Holocaust period, locating and Collection photocopying extensive archival documentation ■ “There are as many stories as there are all over the world, and completing the scanning films.” of existing collections. In addition, the physical So explains Efrat Komisar, Head of the collections must be preserved, the cataloguing Footage Section in the Archives Division, in an process expedited and upgraded, and the introductory video on the Yad Vashem website vast amounts of digital information already regarding a short film of a town displayed in available continuously backed up and updated. the Map of the Ghettos in the Holocaust History The Footage Section collects and acquire Yad Vashem’s expertise in all of these fields Museum. The film's location was identified in films from archives, institutions and private has justly earned it worldwide recognition as various archives as Ciechanów, a small town individuals in Israel and worldwide. In recent innovators and creative thinkers in the area north of Warsaw. However, following research years, the number of private films in the Archive of making historical documentation publicly based on the Names Database, Komisar was able has grown considerably: these films mostly accessible. Support from its donors and partner to pinpoint the footage to Płonsk, a town some commemorate families and the daily lives of foundations, as well as sustained cooperation 35 km south of Ciechanów. different communities in Europe. Understanding with archives, research institutions and leading The Footage Collection in the Yad Vashem that these personal films are extremely important content and technology organizations around Archives contains some 700 titles from before, archival material, many people around the the world, will ensure that it continues to lead during and after the Shoah, as well documentation world deposit them in archives, including at Yad this global endeavor for decades to come. of war crimes trials. These films are gathered from Vashem. Once acquired, the investigations can wherever the Holocaust occurred – Europe and The author is Director of the Yad Vashem begin – who made the film, why, when, where, Archives. North Africa – and include newsreels, amateur and who features in it – and, piece by piece, films and propaganda material. stories come together. collecting, researching, digitizing 11 The Names Database Unto Every Person There is a Name

■ Since its inception 60 years ago, one of Yad a well-publicized media campaign to collect Vashem’s central missions has been to recover Pages of Testimony was launched, yielding an the identity of each and every victim of the overwhelming response from Jews in Israel and Holocaust. The Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery abroad. During the campaign, more than 80% of Project realizes the moral imperative to remember all incoming Pages contained names of victims each victim as a human being, with a name and not previously recorded in the Hall of Names. By a unique personal story. It's an extraordinarily 2000, the number of victims commemorated in the complex venture, one that requires sifting through Names Database had climbed to 2.5 million. archival material and postwar commemoration projects, working with Holocaust survivors The Online Names Database to fill out Pages of Testimony, and having an Under the guidance of Director of the Hall of understanding of a range of languages as well as Names Dr. Alexander Avram, an expert in Jewish the complexity of the etymology of names. Yet onomastics (study of names and their origins), to date, this ceaseless endeavor has identified geography and history, Yad Vashem developed 4.3 million names of Shoah victims, documented a sophisticated technological platform for the in Yad Vashem’s Central Database of Shoah Names Database to provide free public access Victims’ Names. with advanced search and retrieval capabilities th alongside an online Page of Testimony form and Names Collection in the 20 interface for submitting feedback. Avram has Century been with Yad Vashem since 1984, and is one of An initial 800,000 names were collected on Pages the architects of a unique information retrieval of Testimony in Israel during the 1950s, and in method as well as tables of names variants that 1977 the Hall of Names was inaugurated. As make the Names Database one-of-a-kind in the public inquiries into the fate of Holocaust victims world. When the Database was uploaded to Yad steadily increased, the collection of 1.1 million Vashem’s website on 22 November 2004, some Pages of Testimony was copied to microfilm in 2.7 victims’ names were accessible in English 1984, thereby establishing an effective search and Hebrew. Over the past ten years, a team of trained THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE experts has been typing and digitizing names from archival material housed at Yad Vashem. “The most important thing I The skilled team has tackled documentation can do is encourage someone in dozens of languages, each year adding to fill out a Page of Testimony… hundreds of thousands of names to the online it’s vital to ensure the preservation Names Database. Thanks to their dedicated of his or her memory” work, today members of the public can access via the Internet some 4.3 million names. The Rabbi Joseph Schachter, volunteer in Database is also available in German, Russian the Hall of Names and Spanish.

capability. Global outreach efforts to identify the Volunteers Worldwide Join the unnamed victims then expanded among Jewish Names Recovery Project communities throughout the world with the support Notwithstanding these great efforts, millions of of Yad Vashem’s Friends societies. In 1990, the Hall Jews murdered in the Shoah remained nameless. of Names began to actively gather and process Leading up to the launch of the Names Database, lists of names originating from such sources as Yad Vashem established a special project to deportation, camp and ghetto records. accelerate and intensify the collection of names In 1999, Yad Vashem embarked on a around the world. To facilitate this, the Shoah revolutionary project – the computerization Victims’ Names Recovery Project developed and of all names collected to date, thus creating a established a global community outreach program database already containing some two million for names collection, anchored by a cadre of names of Holocaust victims. During that period, dedicated volunteers trained to provide personal 12 The Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names now contains 4.3 million names of Holocaust victims, all of which are accessible online Close to half the total number of names in the Names Database come from over 2.6 million Pages of Testimony, the remainder from archival lists and documents In the past decade, some 1.5 million name occurrences of Holocaust victims were digitized Since 2004, 1,592,000 names have been collected through the Shoah Victims’ Names Recovery Project. Of these, 371,000 names were received via Pages of Testimony

Cynthia Wroclawski

4.3 National 4 million Digitization campaign to Names Database uploaded to million collect Pages the Internet. Launch of Shoah 3.4 of Names million from Pages of Testimony Victims' Names Recovery Project of Testimony 2.7 Creation of Pages of Collection New model for Names collection: Launch million Jewish communities around the a division of Names Testimony of Pages of Testimony world join; volunteers are trained to to collect Collection repository Names from backed continues. provide assistance to those wishing Campaign. 2 to submit Pages of Testimony Torah-world Yad Vashem Parents and up on Yad Vashem signs million accesses sources children microfilm Start of targeted agreements recorded 1.5 documentation with million from new collection of Pages together of Testimony archives in 1.03 sources, FSU states million including among Russian- the FSU speaking Jews 800,000 around the world

1955 1957 1985 1998 1999 2004 2007 2010 2013 assistance in completing Pages of Testimony Together with strategic partners such as the global level the awareness and the imperative within their respective communities. A special Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish of preservation of, and access to, unique and guide was created, containing marketing and Agency, targeted community outreach in irreplaceable documentary heritage in various administrative tools as well as a comprehensive Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Lithuania, parts of the world. “The Pages of Testimony range of materials for training volunteers. The Latvia, Israel, Germany and the US has yielded Repository represents a huge-scale collective guide, now available in English, Russian and another 430,000 names to date. memorial to Holocaust victims, unprecedented Hebrew both in printed format and on the Yad in history in both its dimensions and its intent Vashem website, has been distributed to hundreds Cooperating with the Torah World to preserve the names as symbols of their of Jewish communities and organizations around Over the past six years, Yad Vashem has humanity,” says Dr. Avram. “Comprised of the world who have joined the efforts of the Names also stepped up efforts to recover names of invaluable personal hand-signed testimonies, it Recovery Project. Shoah victims among the ultra-Orthodox is unique in the world, and rightly deserves its communities in Israel and the United States that place in the Memory of the World Register.” Targeting Missing Names traditionally commemorate the victims in unique from the FSU ways acceptable to the Torah world. Names When one has a personal connection to the past, history becomes tangible and meaningful. In 2006, the project embarked on targeted Collection staff members from the ultra-Orthodox In March 2013, US President Barack Obama outreach in areas where a large percentage of community have digitally photographed over visited Yad Vashem’s Hall of Names. He noted the names were still missing; for example, in 700,000 names from Torah-world sources, the importance of the Names Recovery Project the occupied areas of the Former Soviet Union, including religious books, commemorative and the idea that lies behind it, calling the where some 1.5 million Jews were simply shot plaques and ritual objects in synagogues, as undertaking “a service to humanity.” This to death where they lived. Here there were no well as tombstones of survivors engraved encapsulates the essence of what Yad Vashem transports, no lists, no records. Furthermore, with names of family members murdered in has undertaken. If we remember that each of activity related to Holocaust remembrance was the Shoah. the six million victims was an individual, a strictly banned by Soviet authorities until the fall Official UNESCO Recognition whole world unto him or herself, we can begin of the Iron Curtain. As Holocaust-era archives The Shoah Victims' Names Recovery Project to fathom the nature and extent of loss, and gradually open up throughout Eastern Europe, has impacted lives the world over. It has start to take responsibility for the future of the Yad Vashem has taken great strides to retrieve led to hundreds of reunions, discoveries Jewish people and of humanity as a whole. and digitize the names of millions of Jews of lost families, and enabled people to who were wiped out in the centers of Jewish Yad Vashem invites the public to submit Pages of connect personally with the victims of the Testimony for Jews they know who were murdered life that had existed for so many years before Holocaust. Recently, the impact of the project during the Holocaust. Assistance in filling out the Shoah. For example, from 2006-2010, Yad Pages of Testimony in Israel is available at: was given official recognition when UNESCO Vashem computerized over 200,000 names of +972 2 644 3808. Outside Israel, please contact: announced that the Yad Vashem Pages of [email protected] those killed in the Soviet localities occupied by Testimony Repository was to be included in ­­­The author is Manager of the Shoah Victims’ Names the Nazis that were documented by the Soviet its Memory of the World Register. UNESCO’s Recovery Project. Extraordinary Commission (which investigated Memory of the World Program raises to a Nazi war atrocties). collecting, researching, digitizing 13 The Art Collection Fulfilling the Artists’ Last Will

■ As I stand on the border between life and Gela Seksztajn’s last will is in fact that death, certain that I will not remain alive, I of all the artists who were murdered during THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE wish to take leave from my friends and my the Shoah, and in its light are the artworks “My work here was helping works…. My works I bequeath to the Jewish displayed in the Museum of Holocaust Art pass on the memory of the museum to be built after the war. Farewell, that opened in March 2005 as part of the new my friends. Farewell, the Jewish people. Never Museum Complex. The exhibition presented Holocaust to the younger again allow such a catastrophe. within this space gives tangible expression to generations, and this has From the Last Will and Testament of the versatility and uniqueness of Yad Vashem’s helped me greatly overcome Gela Seksztajn, 1 August 1942 Art Collection that contains over 9,000 works the painful memories.” of art, most of which were created during the On the precipice of death, amid the east- Holocaust. In the ghettos, in the camps and in Shoshana Schtark, volunteer in the bound transports from the Warsaw ghetto in places of hiding, artists used their pencils and the summer of 1942 and only half a year before Museum of Holocaust Art brushes – mostly unconsciously – as tools of she and her daughter Margalit were transported defiance. They created art in spite and in the to the Treblinka death camp, painter Gela face of intolerable oppression, attesting to an greatly. The colors – at times astonishingly vital Seksztajn wrote her last will and testament. astonishing phenomenon: namely, that artistic and bright – are a reminder that the Germans The above quote reveals, in unsettling words expression cannot be silenced, even in the most perpetrated their atrocities amid the daily reality and leaving no room for doubt, that she was horrific conditions. These artworks are an eternal of the ordinary world. The artworks wordlessly well aware of what fate awaited her: murder at verification to the German Nazi perpetrators relate the true drama in colorful guise: the the hands of the Germans. At this significant that the persecuted Jewish people, labeled by natural world was not a black and white reality; moment – both for herself and also for her them as subhuman, possessed the power of it carried on in its usual course of vividness as people – Seksztajn wrote these immortal words: creativity – the tangible manifestation of the millions of Jewish men, women and children her art works were to be bequeathed to ”the inspired individual. were transported to their deaths. Jewish museum to be built after the war.” In Artworks in the Museum Collection have Most of the artists whose artworks are spite of the total destruction unfolding before no common denominator except having been on display at Yad Vashem were not given the her eyes, she possessed complete confidence that created during those years of darkness. Artists opportunity to leave behind a written legacy; the Jewish people would arise from ruin, and used their distinctive artistic forms and creative they were murdered, and their mute creations that they would erect a Jewish museum where expression while their choice of topics varied remained for future generations to ponder. her paintings would find a home. 14 The Artifacts Collection A Broad Mosaic

Yehudit Shendar of Memory Michael Tal

How did artworks survive, while their creators “The collection of artifacts embodies a broad did not? The annals behind the endurance of THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE mosaic of human memories,” explains Haviva these artworks and their passage to Yad Vashem “When our children, Peled-Carmeli, Senior are fascinating and often dramatic. Each item Artifacts Curator at Yad charted its own unique route, but for a small grandchildren and great- Vashem. “The unique number of multiple collections. The rescue of grandchildren touch them, the nature of this collection artworks from destruction is in some cases Holocaust becomes concrete; is manifested both in credited to the artists themselves, who took the it’s not abstract, not just a story.” its large volume and in effort to conceal and secret them away in safe the ways in which the places; others were salvaged by friends and Mordechai Sela, donor of two Torah items were collected. relatives, who were committed to the cause staves rescued from the Kristallnacht The majority of the of rescue. Many more works of Holocaust-era pogrom in Vienna objects are connected with artists were revealed in attics and basements the life stories of or in the hands of strangers; these, too, found ■ “Just seconds before we people who their way to Yad Vashem. The small number of were ordered to strip, I experienced artists who survived reveal that the burden of found my mother’s reading the events of memory weighed upon their creative efforts. glasses in the pocket of the Holocaust Almost 70 years since the defeat of the Nazi my coat. That was the last first-hand, and the regime, it would not be implausible to deduce that object I possessed… later on I stories recorded at the the task of collecting Holocaust Art would have improvised some string and tied the glasses to time of their donation been by now completed, and that it is time to my body. I kept them with me all the time […] for tell us of the fate of their progress to collecting postwar and contemporary 45 years the glasses sat in my drawer – but they owners. In this way, the artifacts art confronting Holocaust-related topics. Yet, changed shape. They turned into a tiny heap of represent the identities of Holocaust surprisingly, hundreds of new artworks created crumbs… Such precious crumbs! I brought them victims – those who were murdered and those who in the very midst of the Holocaust have been with me to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, because it survived, real people with faces and names.” added to the collection annually over recent is the most appropriate place for the glasses.” Each artifact that comes to the collection years. Since the year 2000, in fact, over 3,000 From a letter written by is registered in a logbook, in accordance with new items have been incorporated into the Art Tola Wallach Meltzer, z”l, Haifa, 1997 the Museums Law of the State of Israel. A letter Collection, including works by Max Liebermann, Yad Vashem’s Artifacts Collection contains of receipt is issued to the donor, and a unique Ludwig Meidner, Felix Nussbaum, Charlotte some 27,500 items donated over the years catalogue number assigned to each item so it may Salomon and Bruno Schulz, as well as by less- by Holocaust survivors and members of their be easily located when required. Documentation recognized artists. The emphasis on rescuing and families, as well as those received from various accompanying each item includes a record of the preserving Holocaust-era artworks thus remains organizations in Israel and abroad. The collection events and their location, names of all the family relevant to this day, even as the Museum lays the features a wide range of objects connected with members, and a collection of relevant photographs. cornerstones for its collection of contemporary the events that occurred in Europe during the All of the information collected is then digitized to expressions on the Holocaust. first half of the 20th century, reflecting different facilitate its use for commemoration, educational, The last will of Gela Seksztajn and her aspects relevant to the Holocaust period: artifacts research and exhibition purposes. brethren-in-fate has been fulfilled. A Jewish from the years preceding the war through the “I would like to express my gratitude for the museum stands upon the Mount of Remembrance horrors of WWII and on to the survivors’ return warm reception I was given during my visit to in Jerusalem, and Holocaust-era artists have to their homes and attempts at rehabilitation in see my beloved teddy bear,” wrote Stella Knobel an eternal presence within its walls. Visitors DP camps and in Eretz Israel. in 2012. “It is hard to describe my emotions to Yad Vashem are given an opportunity to The collection comprises items from ghettos before and during the visit, when I was able to see the Shoah through the eyes of witnesses, and camps as well as personal effects unveiling hold him again, tell him all that has happened testifying with their brush, pencil and palette, the stories of people, families and, at times, entire to me, and let him know just how much I missed and shunning words that fall short of describing communities. In recent years, a particular effort him. Still, I am happy that my teddy bear has the reality around them – and that is the source has been made to collect artifacts documenting finally found a safe haven and a final home for of the artistic expression. the daily lives of Jews under the imminent threat all eternity. Thank you… for all your work that The author is Senior Art Curator and Deputy Director, of extermination, such as children’s toys, objects makes it possible to restore and conserve precious Museums Division. created as gifts, and items testifying to spiritual artifacts from the Shoah.” forbearance. The author is a Curator in the Artifacts Department, Museums Division. collecting, researching, digitizing 15 The Testimonies Collection Individual Stories,

Collective Memory Malka Tor

■ No one today doubts the value of testimonies for the survivors and their families, as well as for educational, historical and commemorative purposes. In the face of Holocaust denial and revisionism, filmed testimonies of Holocaust survivors embody solid proof of its unique reality. Not only are filmed testimonies of critical importance for researchers, they also enable the younger generations in Israel and beyond to become acquainted with the collection of personal stories that make up the greater, more complex picture of the events that took place across Europe and North Africa during WWII. Indeed, these testimonies are already becoming a primary tool in Holocaust education, replacing face-to-face encounters with the rapidly dwindling survivor generation. In recognition of this, over the past decade Yad Vashem has made a special effort to increase the number of testimonies it collects every year: out of the 112,000 witness accounts – both from Yad into a common story of a place, organization Vashem and other important collections around THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE or group of people. Among the accounts of the world – currently housed in its Archives, this kind, Yad Vashem has obtained group some 11,500 were taken since 2003. In the “The interview allowed me testimonies from former children’s homes summer of 2006, Yad Vashem teams began to to unburden myself of the in Krakow, Otwock and Brzeziny in Poland; offer a service to survivors: visiting and filming heavy load I carried for over Beit Birenbaum, Holland; the orphanages of them in their places of residence across Israel. Transnistria; and the religious youth village Many of those previously prevented from giving 60 years… it opened up deep of Deszk, Hungary. In addition, accounts were their accounts either by geographical distance or layers of complex and charged collected from members of ‘Group 131’ – child poor health were now able to tell their personal emotions… I want to express survivors from Kovno who formed a group stories in the comfort of their own homes. Today, my great appreciation for your in Auschwitz, as well as former prisoners at between 1,000 and 1,200 survivor testimonies a military vehicle repair work camp near the are collected on an annual basis. ability and sensitivity in guiding Vilna ghetto, with a special focus on the rescue A series of unique projects were also recently the course of the interview.” and relief activities of Righteous Among the carried out by Yad Vashem in cooperation with Aharon Kaplan Nations Karl Plagge. Collective stories have also various organizations, including the collection been told to Yad Vashem by survivors from the of witness accounts from hearing-impaired Đakovo camp in Yugoslavia; graduates of the survivors (together with the Institute for engaged in obtaining survivor testimonies (Yad Hebrew Gymnasium in Krakow; members of the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel); Lezahava and Yad Sarah). A special project a partisan unit that managed to survive; and testimonies in Ladino (in partnership with the entitled “From Survival to the Open Skies” has survivors of the Bershad and Murafa ghettos Center for the Preservation of Ladino Heritage); seen accounts collected from Holocaust survivors and the death camps of Transnistria. eyewitness recollections taken from ultra- who are veterans of the Israeli Air Force, with Overall, it is clear that Yad Vashem’s collection Orthodox survivors by interviewers from the the extensive help of the IAF Fund. of witness accounts shapes a portrait of both the community specially trained by Yad Vashem Alongside ongoing collection of testimonies, individual and the community during the Shoah (in cooperation with the Ginzach Kiddush the Oral History Section at Yad Vashem across a broad spectrum of diversity, and thus plays Hashem Institute in Bnei Brak); testimonies implements a number of group interview a critical role in shaping the collective memory of Holocaust survivors from North African sessions each year, where survivors tell a and consciousness of the Holocaust. countries (in cooperation with Yad Ben Zvi); shared story from many different angles. The author is Director of the Oral History Section, and joint projects with volunteer organizations Together, these fragments of memory coalesce Archives Division. 16 Intensifying Efforts to

Gather the Fragments Orit Noiman

Within the framework of "Gathering the Fragments" campaign, over 102,000 items have been THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE collected so far, including approximately 33,000 documents, 41,000 photographs, 22,000 letters, “If Yad Vashem did not exist it 2,400 personal effects, 1,400 books, 926 memoirs, 400 artworks, 290 diaries and 145 reels of original film footage. would have had to be invented, if only to ensure the proper of all these efforts, numerous personal items still professional photographers and equipped with remain undiscovered in the homes of Holocaust digital scanners, so that the individuals who donate transmission of the objects, survivors and their families. Consequently, with Holocaust-related materials to Yad Vashem may stories and memories to the the support of the National Heritage Project at retain a copy of the treasured items they had kept coming generations.” the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry for safe for so many years. In addition, highly skilled Senior Citizens and the Ministry of Education, teams visit Holocaust survivors in their homes when Prof. Shlomo Breznitz for the past few years Yad Vashem has been the latter are unable to attend a central collection running the national “Gathering the Fragments” day in person. Every item received is carefully ■ For many years, Nitza Edelstein treasured campaign in Israel, to accelerate the collection catalogued in Yad Vashem’s computerized systems the notebooks of drawings belonging to her of items dating back to the Holocaust and to and then forwarded, according to its type, to the brother Tibor, whom she never had the fortune discover their unique stories. various Yad Vashem departments for registration to meet. Tibor Karini was born in 1931 in Novi “Holocaust survivors and their families and documentation. After special conservation Sad, Serbia. After his bar mitzvah, Tibor moved possess large quantities of personal items that treatment, some of the items are put on display to live with his grandfather and grandmother, are unknown and inaccessible to the broader for the wider public visiting Yad Vashem. To date, as his father believed he would be safer there. public,” explains Dr. Haim Gertner, Director some 5,660 individuals have donated over 102,000 His mother, Elizabeth (Elisheva) née Fisker was of the Yad Vashem Archives. “Many of those personal items, including diaries, certificates, letters, not convinced that the move was wise, and struggled with the separation from her son. Unfortunately, she was proven right. Elizabeth survived the war, while Tibor was sent with her husband’s parents to Auschwitz, where he was murdered. After the war, Elizabeth returned to her old house in Novi Sad and found her son’s notebooks together with his schoolbooks. Elizabeth kept them as a memento of her beloved son for the rest of her life, and after her mother’s death, Nitza Edelstein, Elizabeth’s daughter from a postwar marriage, carefully looked after the treasured books. In April 2012, Nitza came to a collection day in Herzliya held by Yad Vashem within the framework of the “Gathering the Fragments” national campaign, and presented the notebooks, along with many other items, to campaign staff. “Thank you for who own these items are unaware of their photographs, various personal effects, artworks, the sensitivity and the exemplary approach to importance, or of the critical necessity that they film footage and witness accounts. the materials I have placed in your trustworthy be professionally conserved. Collection of items “The artifacts we collect help us reconstruct hands, to be preserved for eternity at Yad directly from Holocaust survivors is particularly the fates that befell individual Jews during the Vashem,” wrote Edelstein after the meeting. important, for only in this way is it possible to Holocaust, and fulfill our historical duty to preserve “Your support helped me through the difficult hear and record the personal stories connected and commemorate their personal histories,” process of parting with the personal effects of with each item. It is clear that we are running concludes Gertner. “Moreover, their accessibility to loved ones, allowing me to achieve closure in on borrowed time; soon, these witnesses will the wider public will allow researchers, exhibition my life’s journey.” unfortunately no longer be with us. This project curators, educators and the wider community to For many decades, Yad Vashem has been is indeed a rescue operation.” view them and ensure that their stories are told engaged in collecting Holocaust-related On each advertized collection day, Yad to future generations.” artifacts along with their personal stories, and Vashem staff interview those bringing the items, The author is Manager of the “Gathering the currently holds the world’s largest collection of and carefully document all the information they Fragments" Campaign, Archives Division. documentary material on the Shoah. Yet in spite receive. The collection team is accompanied by collecting, researching, digitizing 17 The International Institute Cornerstones of Holocaust Research

■ Yad Vashem’s International Institute for center of research, aiming to study the fate of Beyond the opportunities you offer Holocaust Research was established two Holocaust survivors after the war and efforts at to help promote new research, what decades ago in order to encourage, support and memorializing the victims, repossessing stolen kind of assistance does the Institute advance scholarly research on the Holocaust, as Jewish property, and bringing to justice Nazi offer those beginning their academic well as to inform about and commemorate the war criminals and their accomplices. journeys? Shoah through its publications. The first two You came to the position of Institute Over the years, more than 160 research fellows heads of the Institute, Prof. Israel Gutman, z"l, Director as a seasoned researcher of the Institute, along with many other scholars, and Prof. Yehuda Bauer, laid the foundation in your own right, having developed have utilized the vast sea of resources at Yad for the Institute to achieve its objectives, your skills and knowledge under the under the direction of Esther Aran. Over the guidance of some of the top Holocaust last ten years, under the leadership of Prof. researchers in the world. How do you David Bankier, z”l, and Prof. Dan Michman see the Institute playing that same role and the direction of Dr. Bella Gutterman, and for other novice scholars? more recently with Yad Vashem Chief Historian In addition to the world-renowned conferences Prof. Dina Porat, the Institute has continued and symposia, the Institute hosts a variety of more to expand its academic activities and increase intimate workshops on new areas of research, its reach to both veteran and newly emerging such as on Jewish life during the Holocaust or scholars around the world. real-time media reports during WWII. These In this interview, the Institute’s new Director, workshops provide an important opportunity for Dr. Iael Nidam-Orvieto, takes a look at its main both young and veteran researchers to share and goals and remarkable achievements over the years, as well as the challenges that lie ahead: THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE Vashem and received assistance from the Why is Holocaust research such an Institute. A decade ago the Institute opened “Yad Vashem is vitally its doors to in-residence researchers sponsored important element of Yad Vashem’s work? important as the institute that by various universities, state programs and coordinates global research on organizations, such the Claims Conference and One of Yad Vashem’s main tenets is that historical- the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure based academic research is the foundation of the Holocaust. This is where (EHRI). The Institute also awards prizes and all Holocaust-related commemoration and those interested in investigating scholarships to MA and PhD students who are educational activities. As such, the Research all facets of the Shoah come enrolled in Israeli universities and engaged Institute has made it a priority to attract and to receive assistance. Here in Holocaust research, as well as research invite the leading researchers in the field to they can find rich archives and fellowships for postdoctoral academics. present and discuss their findings, as well as Three years ago, the Institute began to host promote new research by encouraging up- effective tools to help them a biennial workshop in advanced Shoah Studies, and-coming young academics to utilize Yad pursue their individual areas and also established a PhD fellowship program to Vashem’s vast resources and facilities. of study.” encourage doctoral students and assist scholars The Institute’s international academic who come to Yad Vashem independently to conferences and one- and two-day symposia on Prof. Israel Gutman develop their own projects. a variety of topics bring fresh insights and data on a range of topics, as well as reevaluations discuss the ideas presented. At the initiative of What role does international cooperation of previously held perceptions. For example, Prof. Bankier and the direction of former Institute play for the Institute? the 2001 conference on the return of the Jews Director Dr. Tikva Fatal-Knaani, the Institute also Yad Vashem in general, and certainly to their countries of origin in the aftermath of helps PhD students through workshops organized the Institute, places a very high value on WWII enabled us to further explore this important by universities and other Holocaust research developing and maintaining an international subject, and led to a stimulating international institutions that take place either at Yad Vashem or network of academics in order to assist and conference five years later on the judicial aspects abroad. The program allows many young scholars advance Holocaust research. In addition, of the Holocaust and their local and international to expound upon their studies and become part of various Institute staff members participate in ramifications. In 2009, the Diana Zborowski the international scholarly community, to receive conferences, workshops and symposia both Center for the Study of the Aftermath of the feedback from international peers, and to utilize in Israel and abroad, presenting our research Holocaust became the Institute’s first specialized the archives at their disposal. in international forums. 18 Each year, the International Institute for Holocaust Research: Holds international conferences, research workshops and annual lectures for dozens of veteran and newly emerging young scholars Hosts 12 senior researchers from Israel and abroad Grants some 20 awards to Masters and Doctoral students Awards an international book prize for Holocaust research

Leah Goldstein

What kind of research projects does actual numbers of victims, their identities It is clear that there are certain current the staff at the Institute undertake, and and their fates. Project staff also research the trends to “equate” the Holocaust with what is their purpose? prewar history and postwar commemoration other forms of genocide, particularly of of these sites – and then all of the gathered th Our staff is involved in both short- and the 20 century, and even to revise the information is uploaded to the Yad Vashem long-term projects aimed at uncovering and events to fit new theories and hypotheses. website, together with Google mapping, for refining information about broad-based issues, How will the Institute meet this and other easy searching and access by scholars around such as the history, location and fate of every challenges in the coming years? the world. Jewish ghetto during WWII; the vast network As a major center for Holocaust research, we of deportations of the Jews from across the fervently believe that we must engage with The Institute is also renowned for itsֿ continent; and the sites in Eastern Europe focused studies of individual countries. today’s global discourse about these topics, in which mass murders took place within Why is this so important? while continuing the basic research of the core reach of the victims’ own homes. These topics of the Holocaust. There is still much that In recent years, and with the unshakable support comprehensive studies provide not only a is unknown and needs to be investigated. of our friends around the world, the Institute source of information in their own right, but Undoubtedly, the future will present us has been able to open new centers of research also serve to promote future research with the with new challenges and we will find our way that concentrate on the prewar history, wartime data they make available to other scholars. to deal with them. As the survivor generation events and postwar ramifications of the Holocaust For example, The Untold Stories: The slowly disappears from our horizon, it is in specific regions in Europe. These centers are Murder Sites of Jews in the Occupied Territories imperative that we continue to place original crucial for Yad Vashem to keep abreast of current of the Former Soviet Union is an online research documentation, as well as their testimonies, at research within and about each particular area, to project that utilizes eyewitness testimonies, film the fore of our academic studies in order to keep fine-tune conclusions based on newly discovered footage, written and oral documentation and global Holocaust research true to its ultimate documentation, and to increase contact with the memoirs to help locate murder sites of Jewish mission: to learn about, and better understand, scholarly community. individuals and communities in the German- the ramifications of this unprecedented event The Institute is proud of the tremendous occupied areas of the FSU. Through exploration in human history. strides made so far by its recently established of the actual sites and local archives, Institute Center of Research on the History of Soviet Jews staff members have been able to combine their during the Holocaust, Center for Research on existing knowledge with new discoveries, the Holocaust in Poland and Center for Research and thus paint a more accurate picture of the on the Holocaust in Germany. collecting, researching, digitizing 19 Dozens of new publications are Yad Vashem Publications released each year by Yad Vashem, including research studies, memoirs, diaries, conference proceedings, A Legacy of catalogues and albums

Stories in Print Dr. Ella Florsheim

■ Although Yad Vashem Publications was the Nations, which commemorates the actions officially established in 1990, the first issue of THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE of the Righteous and the stories of rescue Yad Vashem’s flagship academic publication, “I’ve learned to live with the by country. Another major research project Yad Vashem Studies, saw light as early as published in recent years is The Yad Vashem 1957. Since then, many Holocaust-related books shadow and to create with Encyclopedia of the Ghettos during the have been published by Yad Vashem, including the light.” Holocaust. This comprehensive encyclopedia diaries, memoirs, research papers, conference contains over 1,100 entries illustrated by Jakob Zim, author of Shards and Light, proceedings, catalogues and albums. In the detailed mapping, providing information on spirit of the Yad Vashem tradition of extensive published by Yad Vashem every ghetto in Europe and the lives of the and diverse publishing activity, Yad Vashem Jews incarcerated within. Publications releases dozens of new titles each An important hub of ongoing discourse on year, in a variety of genres and languages, attention paid to exposing various details of the the cutting-edge of Holocaust research published including English, Hebrew, German, Spanish historical context. Academic supervision is also by Yad Vashem is Yad Vashem Studies, which and French. Some of these are produced in provided during the publication of Holocaust since its foundation has been produced in many survivors’ memoirs. Due to the abundance of

cooperation with academic and commercial memoirs written in recent years, Yad Vashem dozens of volumes and justly earned the highest publishing institutions in Israel and abroad. also supports the release of privately published acclaim as a world-rated scientific journal (see Operating within the framework of the manuscripts. p. 21). Various conference proceedings and International Institute for Holocaust Research, Among the research publications released the Search and Research series also summarize Yad Vashem Publications serves as the by Yad Vashem, several unique undertakings are up-to-date research presented at various spearhead of new and innovative research in most noteworthy, including: The Comprehensive seminars held by the International Institute the field of the Holocaust. Numerous books History of the Holocaust, a series that for Holocaust Research. released by Yad Vashem draw upon its large summarizes the present state of Holocaust Looking ahead, Yad Vashem Publications archives and databases, as well as a broad research in individual countries and expounds aspires to continue the drive to publish diaries range of documentary materials from other upon major topics such as the development and other important documentary accounts from archives worldwide. The toil of releasing these and implementation of the “Final Solution" the Yad Vashem Archives, while working on archival materials in print – such as diaries and in each locale and the reactions of the Jews to the publication of memoirs, research from Israel chronicles from the Holocaust era which have what was happening; The Encyclopedia of the and abroad, and a plethora of other publications been the object of special efforts undertaken Jewish Communities, a collection of historical that will influence Holocaust remembrance and over the last decade – requires meticulous information on European Jewish communities academic research in future years. from their foundation until after the Holocaust; deciphering of the original documents and The author is Editor-in-Chief of Yad Vashem thorough academic editing, with special and The Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among Publications.

20 Yad Vashem Studies At the Heart of

Academic Discourse Dr. David Silberklang

Yad Vashem Studies addressed policy-making regarding the Jews; perspectives a wide variety of subjects, on Daniel Goldhagen’s book, Hitler’s Willing including those most basic to our Executioners; and discussion of Jan Gross’s efforts to understand the Shoah. book, Neighbors. Some addressed fundamental In October 1992, Holocaust historian and methodological questions and others survivor and long-term Yad Vashem senior historical questions regarding the staff member Shmuel Spector commented that development of Nazi policies toward it would take all the researchers in the world Jews. Following the Eichmann trial, more than 100 years just to turn the pages of scholars examined philosophical, the new material being made available in the psychological and legal questions archives of the Former Soviet Union. Since regarding the perpetrators. These then, additional archives with tens of millions early volumes also examined Jewish of pages of documentation have opened underground activity and armed in various countries. In the last ten years, resistance; death marches; German Yad Vashem Studies has been developing ties Jewish responses; daily life in the with scholars worldwide, including in post- ghettos; French and Macedonian communist countries, resulting in pathbreaking Jewry during the Holocaust; and articles such as those on Hitler’s role in the “Final much more. Solution;” Polish attitudes towards the murder ■ With the publication in 1957 of volume 1 From the late 1960s, Yad Vashem Studies of the Jews; the attitudes of local Romanians; of Yad Vashem Studies, the first journal published pioneering studies that have become analyses of Hungarian leaders’ ideologies; devoted to research on the Holocaust was classics in the field, and quite a few of these an anthropological analysis of the July 1946 launched. Every aspect of the Shoah was a anticipated major books and ongoing debates. Kielce pogrom; and archaeological research at new research subject at that time – and for Among these were Nachman Blumenthal on the Sobibór extermination camp. years to come. This was reflected in the wide Adam Czerniaków’s diary; Isaiah Trunk and Together with heightened scholarly interest variety of subjects addressed in the first volumes, Aharon Weiss on the Judenräte; Bela Vago on in the field by both veteran and up-and-coming including German perpetrators, local attitudes Ottó Komoly’s diaries; Israel Gutman on the scholars, the journal’s move to a semi-annual toward the murder of the Jews, the variety of inception of the armed resistance in the Warsaw format in 2007 has brought increasing numbers of Jewish responses and rescue attempts. The ghetto; and Yehuda Bauer on rescue operations submissions in recent years, allowing for a sizeable journal also broke new ground by appearing via Vilna. Three of the important articles on the increase in the number of articles published in in two separate volumes in two languages, evolution of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish policies came Yad Vashem Studies. The review section, with Hebrew and English, something unheard of in from Uwe Adam, Christopher Browning and in-depth articles on recent noteworthy books in the academic world. In this very decision, the Martin Broszat – the latter in his critique of David numerous languages, has also become one of editors expressed a fundamental principle that Irving’s controversial book, Hitler’s War. the journal’s calling cards. is still one of the guiding lights of Yad Vashem Research on Romania (Jean Ancel), Hungary While it is impossible to predict exactly Studies – the particular and universal aspects (Randolph Braham) and “Operation Reinhard” what kinds of research will be undertaken in of the Holocaust. This was to be a journal that (Yitzhak Arad) were among the many articles the coming years, if the submissions in the last would reach scholars and interest readers both that generated discussion in the 1970s and decade are any indication, there will probably in Israel and worldwide. 1980s, and Saul Friedländer’s penetrating be more articles from the FSU utilizing Soviet And indeed, of the nearly 600 articles that analysis of the intentionalist-functionalist archives; on countries that have been under- have been published to date, almost one-third debate regarding the development of Nazi researched in the past, such as Greece; on have come from outside Israel. International decision-making on the “Final Solution” is annotated diaries and other documents; on representation has increased steadily over the also still included in syllabi in universities forced labor; on Jews’ reactions in places that years; in the last decade more than half the around the world. Scholars also engaged have not been extensively researched; and on articles have come from scholars around the in major historical debates on the pages of the reactions and actions of local non-Jewish world. Authors from more than 20 countries Yad Vashem Studies, such as the Historikerstreit in populations. One hundred years? It seems that have submitted articles in more than a dozen Germany and the beginning of the debate Spector may have underestimated. languages. regarding the role of ordinary Polish people in The author is Senior Historian at the International What have been the directions of these the Holocaust; discussions regarding the role and Institute of Holocaust Research, and Editor-in-Chief scholars’ interests? In its early volumes, influence of middle-level German officials on of Yad Vashem Studies. collecting, researching, digitizing 21 Yad Vashem's Library now holds over The Library 141,000 titles in 54 languages The Reference and Information Services Unit aids more than 30,000 members of the public each year, both in the Library and Archives Reading Room and through An Island written responses of Information Leah Goldstein

(Nazi Germany and the Jews) have benefitted from the Library’s collection to help them gather material for their noteworthy, thought-provoking and bestselling books.

In this online era, how is the Library developing its technological capabilities? The world of publications is deep into the digital revolution, although for the time being, printed matter is not only still with us, but also remains of tremendous import. Since the landscape is still in a state of flux, it is not yet clear exactly how the new era of e-books and online access to publications will eventually impact the Yad Vashem Library. Meanwhile, however, Yad Vashem is endeavoring to utilize all the tools at its disposal, including integrating

■ Dr. Robert Rozett is Director of both Yad Library collection with the help of Yad Vashem’s THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE Vashem Libraries, book and film, as well IT Division. Today one can search through the “My work gives me a great as a historical researcher, published author online Library catalogue on the Yad Vashem deal of satisfaction because I’m and occasional newspaper columnist. In a website, which is updated every few weeks. special interview for this edition of Yad Vashem doing something to preserve the Jerusalem, Dr. Rozett focuses on the publications In which languages is most material memory of the Holocaust and, library, its achievements over the past decade about the Holocaust written? ultimately, of the members of and its future plans: Titles in our library appear in some 54 languages, my family who were murdered including for us rather esoteric tongues like in Auschwitz.” What is the Yad Vashem Library’s main Icelandic, Basque and Tadzhik. Over the last role? decade, the majority of the material received has Moshe Abeles, volunteer in the The Yad Vashem Library was established with been in English, followed by German, Hebrew, Yad Vashem Library the mission to collect all known publications French, Russian and Polish. about the Shoah and related subjects for the benefit of scholars, Yad Vashem staff, students, Which well-known researchers have and enhancing search capabilities on all of teachers, occasional readers and, perhaps most made use of the Library over the years? its resources. For this reason, the Library has successfully been brought in line with other importantly, for posterity. In the past decade, The image of libraries is that they are far from branches of Yad Vashem regarding one of the we have added over 42,600 new titles to our dynamic places; instead they are quiet islands main avenues of accessing material – searches collection, and thousands more duplicate copies of information in a sea of frenetic activity. There by place names. The next step, to be carried of important items in a variety of formats. The is a certain truth to that regarding the main out soon, is to do the same for searches by sites Library collection now includes over 141,000 Yad Vashem Library, since the reading room of persecution. titles, and remains the most comprehensive overlooks the green valley between Yad Vashem But regardless of the medium by which such collection in the world. and the western neighborhoods of Jerusalem, information will be published, stored and In addition to offering these publications thus providing a calm atmosphere to explore a transmitted over the next 60 years, the core through the main Library branch in Jerusalem and subject that is never easy to confront. activities of the Library will most likely remain our smaller branch in Beit Wolyn in Givatayim, Nevertheless, the Library is a place that the same: to collect and make available to our during recent years we carried out several projects inspires many who use its resources. World- readership as much of the published material that have made the material more accessible renowned authors such as Yann Martel (Beatrice relevant to our subject as we can, and to ensure than ever before. Perhaps the most important of and Virgil), Sir Martin Gilbert (The Holocaust: that it is preserved for future generations. these was to create an online catalogue for the The Jewish Tragedy) and Saul Friedländer 22 The Visual Center's database currently The Visual Center features 8,500 titles 5,800 of these films are available for viewing at the Center's digital film library Over 1,000 public inquiries for research and information regarding Holocaust- A Repository of related cinema are answered every year Holocaust Cinema Liat Benhabib and Mimi Ash

discerning work by the renowned Israeli documentary filmmaker David Perlov. Several screenings in Israel and at high-profile festivals abroad followed the painstaking restoration process, which resulted in a new high-definition digital version of this groundbreaking film. The Center eagerly awaits authorization from the Israel Broadcasting Authority to produce and distribute a DVD of this important film, which was literally rescued from oblivion on the shelves. The Avner Shalev Award The Visual Center grants the Avner Shalev Yad Vashem Chairman’s Award for Artistic Achievement in Holocaust-related Film at the International Jerusalem Film Festival each summer. This prestigious prize has spotlighted new films, including Human Failure, Cabaret Berlin and the latest winner, Aftermath. In ■ In November 2005, just seven months after Important Acquisitions addition, the Visual Center has sponsored Israeli the opening of the new Holocaust History premieres of major films at commemorative As in the past, the Visual Center plans to persist Museum, the Visual Center at Yad Vashem was events, including Adam Resurrected, The in joining forces with local and international inaugurated. In less than a decade, the Center Counterfeiters, Killing Kasztner, In Darkness filmmakers as well as institutions dedicated to has become the leading international repository and Hannah Arendt. the preservation of the audio-visual memory of Holocaust cinema, featuring a digital viewing of the Shoah. By making the classics as well as library and database instantly accessible to Assisting the Public new releases accessible to audiences in Israel filmmakers, researchers, educators and the public Hundreds of local and international organizations and abroad, it will ensure that quality cinema at large. Today there are 8,500 films of all genres have held special screenings at the Visual Center continues to be brought to the public, as in the on its online film database, and 5,800 of them are in conjunction with conferences, teacher-training premieres of the restored versions of The Diary available for viewing, free of charge, at individual seminars and remembrance ceremonies. The of Anne Frank and Night and Fog. This involves computer stations at the Visual Center. Meanwhile, Center’s professional staff has answered more ongoing acquisitions, at the Center’s rate of at than 10,000 requests for assistance on film least 300-500 new titles each year. To attain this THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE productions, educational programming and objective, its longstanding working relationships searches for films and testimonies. In 2008, a with major distributors of Holocaust films in “There is no single story of the special one-off Yad Vashem film fund provided Israel and abroad – most notably, NMC United, Shoah… so we have to listen to funding and consultation to the creators of Seventh Art Releasing, DEFA, Ruth Diskin those who spoke about what eight documentaries, among them A Film Films and Go2Films – must be maintained. The Unfinished, The Lost Love Diaries and Rafting happened… the Visual Center Center has also acquired complete collections to Bombay. and its film collection will serve of filmmakers such as Arthur Brauner, Péter In this image-dominated age of new and Forgács, Mira Hamermesh, Claude Lanzmann, generations to come.” always more innovative media, it is clear that Willy Lindwer, Jeanine Meerapfel, Marek Avraham Harshalom, who sponsored there is no substitute for the response that Rosenbaum, Renee Sanders, Istvan Szabo and the Online Film Database, inaugurated film gives to the need to tell and re-tell the Ruth Walk, and calls on filmmakers who have in 2011 story of the Holocaust, from generation to created Holocaust-related works to deposit generation. copies of their films in its collection. members of staff at the Center continue the search For credits and further information about all the for films about the Holocaust, to collect, preserve Rescuing Rare Material films in the Online Film Database, please visit the and offer them for viewing. The assistance of all Yad Vashem website: www.yadvashem.org One of the Visual Center’s most prominent creative people in the world of film devoted to Liat Benhabib is Director of the Visual Center endeavors in recent years was the restoration of and Mimi Ash is responsible for the Center’s Film safeguarding the memory of the Holocaust is Memories of the Eichmann Trial – an unfinished, Acquisitions. vital to this mission. collecting, researching, digitizing 23 The Museum Complex A Source of Inspiration Leah Goldstein

■ In July 2013, Yad Vashem was rated fourth quantities of people visiting Yad Vashem every among 25 of the world’s most important year. As long as 20 years ago, the number THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE museums by TripAdvisor, a leading travel of annual visitors reached several hundred I’m afraid that in the future website that is driven by opinions of travelers thousand, causing serious congestion and at the Holocaust will become just from all over the world. Visitors gave highest times preventing our guests from entering the praise to the “moving and informative museum. Moreover, the physical condition of another historical episode; exhibitions” and described their visit as “an the exhibition was far from satisfactory. Despite that’s why it’s important that emotional, educational and inspirational several renovation-and-remodeling operations the story be told from a personal experience” and a “must see” for everyone undertaken over the years, the passage of time perspective: numbers alone traveling in Israel. and the large visitor turnover contributed to the The new Yad Vashem Museum Complex physical deterioration of the exhibits. have no meaning.” opened its doors in March 2005, in a ceremony We also realized that the exhibition needed Rena Quint, volunteer guide in the attended by the UN Secretary General, presidents, to be updated in order to express the paradigm Holocaust History Museum prime ministers, foreign ministers and dignitaries shift that has occurred over the years in the way representing 40 of the world’s nations, as well we think about the Holocaust, and to awaken the this approach has changed. We want to tell the as Holocaust survivors, Yad Vashem donors and interest of the younger generation by presenting Jewish story – albeit within the context of the Righteous Among the Nations. Every year, almost an up-to-date exhibition allowing the viewers to crimes perpetrated by German Nazis and their a million people from all over the world visit the identify with and understand Holocaust victims collaborators – highlighting the Jewish viewpoint Museum Complex, which comprises the Holocaust by encountering their personal stories. of the events. In the Holocaust History Museum, History Museum, the Museum of Holocaust Art, the Jewish story is also presented via personal In what way does the Holocaust History the Exhibitions Pavilion, the Synagogue, the accounts and not only as a general historical Learning Center and the Visual Center. Museum convey the narrative of the Jewish people, and how does it tell narrative: art displayed in the Museum allows In a special interview, Director of the a different view of the Holocaust based on the Museums Division Yehudit Inbar summarizes the story of the individuals who were murdered? experience of the individual; artifacts present the unique nature of the Museum Complex, personal and communal stories; photographs explains the reasons for the high demand for The historical museum was built by the survivors are explored in detail; and videos and personal traveling exhibitions examining various aspects under the leadership of Dr. Yitzhak Arad, who testimonies convey the range of narratives of the Holocaust, and looks at the future of sought to tell the world what the Nazis and from the Holocaust period. All these elements Holocaust museums: their accomplices did to the Jewish people. give visual and experiential expression to the They could not, and perhaps did not think Why was it necessary to build a new narrative, while using the tools and media it appropriate – yet – to tell their own story. familiar to today’s younger generations. Museum Complex at Yad Vashem? Accordingly, the museum mainly displayed Yad Vashem’s original historical museum photographs and models of the camps. The What are the special features of the established in the 1970s was an important and photos had been taken by the murderers, and Museum Complex? professional museum, yet over time it became the exhibit said almost nothing of the Jews After a visit to the Holocaust History Museum – inadequate to the task of facilitating the sheer themselves. Two generations after the Holocaust, which is not easy from an emotional or physical 24 Close to a million people from all over the world visit the Yad Vashem Museum The Museum Complex concentrates the entire range Complex each year of museum fields in one geographical area, thus facilitating the visitor's every need

viewpoint – one can sit and contemplate the women during the Holocaust; and exhibitions How do you envision the future of experience on the inner patio of the Complex. of artworks by Holocaust survivors as well as Holocaust museums around the world? This island of quiet gives the visitor a place to those created by modern artists. Currently we What direction will these exhibitions rest and then decide what they should see next: are showing an exhibition that marks 50 years take in the future? perhaps several artworks from the Holocaust of honoring Righteous Among the Nations, It is hard to foresee the future, but the direction era displayed at the Art Museum? Or maybe it entitled “I Am My Brother’s Keeper.” in which the museums – historical museums in is time to hear various answers to the difficult particular – are moving gives rise to multiple questions raised by the Holocaust (Learning Yad Vashem has 12 traveling exhibitions questions. Today’s world is a digital universe, and Center) or see an interesting film examining appearing in 15 languages all over the a large percentage of its population mainly uses a specific aspect of that historical era (Visual world. What are the goals of these digital tools. The “Spots of Light” exhibition was Center)? Or is it best to take some time for prayer exhibitions, and how are they received created as a virtual display that fits seamlessly and contemplation at the fully functioning by the public in different countries? into any space where it is presented. The Synagogue that displays authentic Judaica The traveling exhibitions were created in permanent exhibition “Shoah," curated by Yad from synagogues in Europe destroyed during order to meet the need expressed by various Vashem and recently opened inside Block 27 at the Holocaust? The uniqueness of the Museum parties – museums, communities, cultural Auschwitz-Birkenau, is almost entirely digital. Complex, designed by architect Moshe Safdie, and educational facilities, parliaments, etc. The most recent exhibition unveiled at Yad is the fact that it concentrates the entire range We receive requests both from bodies directly Vashem, honoring the Righteous Among the of museum fields in one geographical area, thus associated with the Holocaust as well as from Nations, is essentially a large video display. This facilitating our visitors’ every need. those that do not work in that field. Requests type of exhibition has a number of significant from such places are particularly important What temporary exhibitions have been advantages, especially for topics such as the as they allow us to reach many people beyond Holocaust, where many aspects lack tangible presented over the past decade and the audiences that are normally exposed to how were they chosen? visual expression. In addition, such exhibitions this topic. These exhibitions have been viewed can be transferred from one location to another The temporary exhibitions presented in the by hundreds of thousands of people. easily and at minimal expense. The question is, Exhibitions Pavilion open a special window In recent years, we have also presented therefore, whether museums which today can onto the inner world and realities of Holocaust numerous exhibitions inside the UN building be toured via the Internet almost entirely, will victims, and provide unique insights into the marking International Holocaust Remembrance turn into “white elephants,” rendering physical continuous efforts to understand the meaning Day. The latest exhibition, on 27 January visits redundant? Or rather, will the authentic of the Holocaust from the Jewish point of view. 2012, was entitled “‘A Monument of Good museum experience, with exhibitions displayed Exhibition topics therefore combine history and Deeds’: Dreams and Hopes of Children during inside a physical space, featuring original artifacts art. In recent years, among others, we held an the Holocaust” and targeted youth audiences and visited on one’s own, as part of a group or exhibition dedicated to portraits painted during (with hands-on exhibits that could be operated with friends and family, retain its emotional the Holocaust; a display of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the viewers). The exhibition most widely and intellectual attraction? It is hard to tell, but architectural plans; an exhibit showcasing the displayed is “No Child’s Play,” which has been I believe that the best solution is to integrate contribution made by the survivors to the State translated into 12 languages and has been both approaches for future audiences. of Israel; another telling the unique story of traveling worldwide since 1998. educating, commemorating, exhibiting 25 The International School A World Center for Holocaust Teaching

■ Two decades ago, as he embarked upon his new role as Chairman of Yad Vashem, Avner Shalev brought with him a vision: to turn the Holocaust Remembrance Authority into a center of learning and inspiration, as relevant to the lives of the younger generations as it had been to their parents and grandparents. As such, he firmly placed education at the heart of the enterprise, and within months, the International School for Holocaust Studies was established. Over the years, the School developed its boundaries both physically – moving into its new building in 1999 and expanding into the state- of-the-art International Seminars Wing in 2012 – and in terms of its productive output: currently engaging with more than 300,000 educators, students and soldiers from Israel and abroad, producing a plethora of pedagogical materials in some 15 languages, and conducting hundreds of long- and short-term seminars to train teachers relevant aspects to young people who search for the Research Institute, the Archives, the Hall from Israel and abroad in age-appropriate meaning and direction in their lives: the behavior of Names, the Righteous Among the Nations Holocaust education. The School’s sub-site on and choices of human beings under the most Department, and the Art and Artifacts Collections. Yad Vashem’s website offers a wealth of resources difficult circumstances, and the strengthening and ideas for lesson plans, Remembrance Day of universal human values. The extremism and ceremonies and online courses, and graduates uniqueness of the Holocaust challenges each THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE are encouraged to form an international network and every one of us to take a good look at of trained specialists, widening the discourse on ourselves, at the education of our children and “The most important thing is to Holocaust education and enlarging the cadre of at our relationship with people different from teach the teachers how to teach “educational ambassadors.” us – and to develop awareness, sensitivity and the children…they have to rouse For this special edition of Yad Vashem even a kind of humility in how our behaviors their students to be proud of Jerusalem, Dorit Novak, current Director influence our society. More than a terrifying and who they are.” General of Yad Vashem and previous Director unprecedented historical event, the Holocaust is, of the International School, Shulamit Imber, and continues to be, a relevant topic of learning Pearl Benisch Pedagogical Director of the School, and Dr. for every generation, in every country. Eyal Kaminka, Lily Safra Chair of Holocaust To these precious items we add an educational Education and the School’s current Director, How is the International School’s aspect, so that teachers can make use of them in look back on the achievements of the School pedagogical approach unique in its the classroom. Our wide range of programs held over the past two decades and discuss its current teaching of the Holocaust? at schools around the world means that they are and future challenges: Shulamit Imber: The Holocaust is a seminal tested over and over, and through the years we maintain a constant dialogue with the educators We are now some 70 years after the event in Jewish, Israeli and human society, and thus is an active factor in the design of in the field. These educators come to us from events of the Shoah. Why do you think different countries with varying world views, and Holocaust education is still relevant today? the memory, consciousness and identity of future generations. It is a Jewish story with teach children from first to twelfth grade. Dr. Eyal Kaminka: Holocaust education has implications for all of humanity, and we teach We are also unique in our comprehensive certainly taken a new direction in the 21st it first and foremost as a human story. educational outlook, both from the topics we century. While the survivor population is The International School for Holocaust tackle as well as the different age groups with dwindling, second and third generations of Studies approaches the Holocaust on two levels, which we work. We have created educational kits, Jews are seeking new ways to safeguard their the historical and the pedagogical. Here in Yad lesson plans and online learning environments legacy. Further abroad, in this almost borderless Vashem, we are exposed to a great amount of utilizing a variety of methods in order to illustrate world, learning about the Shoah has so many original material from across the institution – the topic from as many angles as possible. 26 Each year: More than 300,000 students from Israel and abroad participate in seminars and programs of the International School for Holocaust Studies School staff work in some 30 different countries around the globe Some 5,000 educators from Israel and abroad take part in long-term seminars at Yad Vashem Years of the More than 10,000 Israeli educators attend teacher-training days at Yad Vashem and International School 20 throughout Israel, among these more than 4,000 ultra-Orthodox teachers The Virtual School provides pedagogic material in 20 languages, runs online courses and Leah Goldstein produces testimony films that are translated into as many as 12 languages

We understood that in order to appreciate students on a first-time trip to Israel to foreign School is continuing to develop its educational what was lost, we had to teach about the thriving, seminar graduates working within their own home doctrine, with all its nuances, so it remains diverse and multi-layered Jewish life that existed environments, the International School is dedicated relevant to as many cultures as possible. In before the Nazis rose to power. Our educational to producing programs and resources to suit the this area, timely feedback is vital, so we can seminars always include content on “the world individual needs of each and every participant, in properly adapt our methodology to suit the that was.” In addition, we also realized the order to maximize their capacity for understanding particular audience. We are also working importance of relaying how these individuals – the historical events and internalizing their to further enlarge our cadre of educational men, women and children, educated and simple, meanings for their own lives. leaders – people in positions of influence rich and poor, secular and religious – coped in the communal and political spheres – with the chaos that erupted around them and Do survivors still play a part in Holocaust who are familiar with our comprehensive and yet endeavored to safeguard their humanity in education? age-appropriate outlook. These “ambassadors” – their day-to-day lives. The return to life after the SI: The testimonies of those who actually young and more senior – help influence critical Holocaust, and the challenges survivors faced experienced the events of the Shoah, in decisions regarding Holocaust-related teaching in rebuilding their lives, show the resilience whatever environment they lived, is critical to curricula in their own countries, and create of mankind. We also teach about the history our understanding of the period and the human appropriate commemorative and educational of antisemitism, Nazi ideology and the “Final reactions it engendered. Our educational seminars events in accordance with Yad Vashem’s highly Solution," so that teachers and students receive involve face-to-face meetings with Holocaust regarded approach to Holocaust education. a balanced and accurate historical picture. As survivors whenever possible. It is vital that our DN: In recent years we have broken significant part of this discussion, we discuss the choices participants not only hear about what Jewish new ground in countries not traditionally made by persecutors, bystanders and Righteous people went through during the war years, but also focused upon European history. Educators Among the Nations. how they faced the years that followed and rebuilt from China, India, New Zealand, Australia, With all of these elements in mind, we are their lives despite – or because of – the traumas South America and Taiwan have joined their now formulating a comprehensive Holocaust they encountered. Meeting with a survivor and colleagues from across the European continent education syllabus for all Israeli students, hearing his or her testimony always stimulates to increase their historical knowledge about aged 6-18, at the request of Israel’s Ministry of conversations about the period that go beyond the period and tackle the universal concepts Education. We are both honored and privileged to the incidents themselves, and creates a feeling of arising from the events that took place. We have been given such an important assignment, responsibility and obligation to remember. are hoping to solidify and further expand our and will use all of the experience, resources and cooperation with the official educational systems knowledge at our disposal to create a program that DN: Sadly, the survivor generation is gradually in as many regions as possible, in order to aid will enlighten and inspire future generations. leaving us, which is why the School’s Educational Technology Department has spent considerable them in developing accurate and stimulating What would you say are the main resources filming survivors describing their resources for their teachers and students. achievements of the International School experiences in the places the events occurred. SI: We need to find ways to engage with over the past 20 years? These invaluable documentaries, available in classrooms in which different cultures are a number of languages and viewable online, Dorit Novak: First and foremost, the International represented, and often long-standing stereotypes will continue to serve as key components of School has developed a reputation as a world need to be addressed and broken down. our comprehensive educational efforts. center for Holocaust teaching. The majority Holocaust education provides the basic tools of Israeli students – some 80% of those in the that allow the student to understand events What are the major challenges of in their historical context, and consider the state school system – visit the School during Holocaust education today? their high school years; the number and length values we wish to instill. Because the Shoah of our seminars for educators from abroad far EK: Certain current worldwide trends challenge took place in the heart of modern western surpass any other Holocaust-related institution; the position of the Shoah as a constitutive society, learning about the Holocaust is a and our outreach activities, both in Israel and historical event, and Holocaust terminology and good starting point to fighting the evils that across five continents, are eagerly anticipated imagery is sometimes used for various political plague society today. Of course, not every and enthusiastically welcomed. and social agendas. In addition, there are whole problem can be solved through Holocaust Pedagogical materials and teacher-training communities that are completely disconnected education, but I firmly believe that it is our job activities are also tailor-made to each group from – or choose not to engage with – this to build layers of consciousness, day by day, seeking our expertise and experience: from the seminal period in human history. and thus inspire others to be more sensitive ultra-Orthodox educational system to Israel In this global environment, the dedicated to the issues brought forth through learning security services personnel, from young Jewish and highly skilled staff at the International about the Shoah.

educating, commemorating, exhibiting 27 Years of the 20International School Increasing Holocaust Education around the World

■ Two decades ago, when the International countries across Western and Eastern Europe, of the Shoah Foundation Institute, helping School for Holocaust Studies was established North and South America, Australia and New students connect history with contemporary at Yad Vashem, there was a relatively small Zealand. In recent years, the School has expanded issues, and develop skills to become active staff of some 20-30 educators divided between its global reach even further, providing tailor- members of an informed citizenry. different departments. As part of its ongoing made programs for educators from the Jewish pedagogical efforts, four international seminars world as well as from Cyprus, Macedonia, China, Growth and Impact in Europe for educators were held every year: one in Taiwan, India and South Korea. The staff of the European Department now Spanish for educators from South America; numbers approximately 20 people, including one in French for educators from France; Unique, Tailor-made Seminars two part-time representatives in Europe. Their and two (summer and winter) in English for Yad Vashem remains the only institution to offer profound contributions and serious inroads educators from North America, Australia and in-depth educational seminars for teachers of the into Holocaust education in Europe speak other English-speaking countries. At the same Holocaust from different countries around the for themselves: close to 10,000 educators time, Yad Vashem held seminars for European world. Its unique programs combine academic, from approximately 40 European countries educators, but without follow-up projects, and pedagogical and experiential elements, offering have graduated from customized enrichment had begun to produce pedagogical materials. teachers an array of educational units that are seminars at Yad Vashem, and far more have In 1999, the International School for both tailor-made for the country of origin and participated in Yad Vashem’s programming Holocaust Studies entered its new and specially age-appropriate. In addition, multiple survivor in their home countries. The Department has designed building. At the same time, the world testimonies are an integral part of every seminar, also launched study seminars in Europe for saw a proliferation of Holocaust museums and as well as a variety of guided tours across the graduates: an international seminar at Brama centers and a heightened interest in the subject Yad Vashem campus and throughout the country Grodzka in Poland recently attracted 137 of the Holocaust. Subsequently, educators began that provide the participants with crucial aspects applicants, out of whom 25 graduates from to take a greater interest in educational seminars of Jewish and Israeli history. 19 countries attended. at Yad Vashem, and the number of staff at the In 2004, Yad Vashem, the Anti-Defamation Right from the beginning of its activities, School and their educational activities in Israel League and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute the International School has sought to evaluate and abroad began to expand significantly. for Visual History and Education created a its impact. In addition to collecting and In 2004 the International School’s multimedia and interdisciplinary curriculum analyzing participants’ feedback, Yad Vashem fledgling European Department began to foster for US high school students called ”Echoes and has welcomed external experts from Brandeis relationships with European educators and Reflections.” So far, senior staff members from University in the US and the Szold Institute in develop specialized educational materials. In the International School have taken part in Israel to analyze the effects of Yad Vashem’s order to maximize the staff’s professional and training over 20,000 teachers in the US to use the seminars. “The trip to Yad Vashem was an linguistic skills, the department divided into 10-lesson program, which includes innovative amazing experience which exceeded all my various geographic “desks” to target 11 initial strategies to foster anti-bias education. Rich expectations,” said 2013 graduate Suzanne countries: Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, with visual history testimony and rare materials, Armour from Scotland. “Although upsetting at Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the curriculum incorporates the pedagogical times, it was a fantastic learning experience. Russia and Slovakia. expertise and vast archival holdings of Yad The lecturers and speakers were all engaging Today, the School hosts some 80 seminars Vashem, the national outreach network of the and passionate, and each and every seminar every year for close to 2,000 educators from ADL and the unmatched visual history resources was interesting and worthwhile.”

28 Increasing Holocaust Education around the World Richelle Budd Caplan, Ephraim Kaye and James Joseph McIntosh

Widening the Field The International School has cultivated Institute in Romania and the University Yad Vashem primarily targets educators for its contacts with global organizations (see box), of Lucerne in Switzerland, amongst other professional enrichment seminars, but has also helping establish connections with other international bodies. Signed by high-ranking developed relationships with professionals from professionals through these multilateral officials, these agreements will help sustain other fields, including jurists, police officers, clergy networks. As part of its long-term strategic Yad Vashem’s future relationships with its members and youth leaders. Complementing its relationships, the School has also signed international colleagues who are devoted to seminars in Israel and in Europe, the European agreements with governments, universities promoting accurate and effective Holocaust Department has also pioneered the use of and Holocaust-related non-governmental education around the world. video conferences with its partners overseas. organizations (NGOs). In the past year, for Ephraim Kaye is Director for International Seminars This technology has empowered Yad Vashem’s example, Yad Vashem has signed memoranda for Educators, and Richelle Budd Caplan is Director of the European Department, International School staff to reach a larger audience and create a of understanding with Croatia’s Ministry of for Holocaust Studies. James Joseph McIntosh sort of long-distance educational academy. Science, Education and Sports, the Elie Wiesel works in the European Department.

Education on the International Stage Jane Jacobs-Kimmelman ■ As it enters its seventh decade, Yad Vashem such as the creation of Holocaust education significant change in a number of projects, has probably become the most identified curricula, the opening of national archives, including surveying local archives, the mapping name associated with worldwide Holocaust condemning antisemitism, and developing models of killing sites, and raising awareness on the remembrance, research and education. Active for Holocaust memorial days. Holocaust particularly in countries where today on six continents, the global renown is Yad Vashem has remained involved in IHRA antisemitism, Holocaust denial, revisionism due in no small part to the many partnerships since the outset: Yad Vashem Academic Advisor or indifference is prevalent. and joint ventures undertaken with leading Prof. Yehuda Bauer, who co-authored IHRA’s Furthermore, over this period, Yad Vashem international bodies such as the International cornerstone Stockholm Declaration, continues has also developed solid partnerships and Council of Museums, the International Tracing to serve as its Honorary Chairman; and both initiatives with UNESCO, the OSCE/ODIHR, the Service and the European Holocaust Research he and Yad Vashem Chief Historian Prof. Dina European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights Infrastructure, as well as the international NGO Porat are the organization’s emeritus Academic (FRA) and the Council of Europe, all permanent status granted by the United Nations in 2007. Advisors. Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev observers to IHRA. Cooperative ventures include Yet some of the most meaningful strides currently acts as co-Head of the Israeli IHRA an agreement signed in 2012 with the Council of in its international presence have taken place delegation alongside diplomats from Israel’s Europe on Holocaust education, and the creation over the past decade via the Task Force for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who additionally of a joint “Toolkit” on teaching the Holocaust in International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, partner with Yad Vashem in creating programs schools across Europe. In addition, Yad Vashem Remembrance and Research (ITF), recently to combat antisemitism around the world. maintains ongoing consultation and cooperation renamed the International Holocaust Remembrance Experts from Yad Vashem’s International School with the UN’s Holocaust Outreach Program, Alliance (IHRA). The ever-expanding IHRA for Holocaust Studies, Archives Division and partnering in projects such as study guides, film currently comprises 31 member states, enabling International Research Institute comprise the production and educational exhibitions. cooperation on both inter-organizational and remainder of the Israeli IHRA delegation. Active The author is Director of International Relations, diplomatic levels for a range of policy issues in their working groups, they have affected International School for Holocaust Studies. educating, commemorating, exhibiting 29 Years of the 20International School Teaching Without Trauma Yael Richler-Friedman

these courses have undergone further ■ How do you discuss the Holocaust with customization. In cooperation with the elementary school students? What guidelines should direct teachers of these classes on Holocaust Ministry of Education, lectures by Yad Remembrance Days? Are there appropriate Vashem educators are incorporated educational tools for the cognitive and emotional in their teacher training programs. ability of younger children? For example, after all the History These questions and many others are raised matriculation exams for the year year after year among specialist and homeroom are turned in, Ministry staff review teachers working at elementary schools in Israel. which areas are the most consistently In response, over the past decade the Teacher problematic, and ask Yad Vashem Training Department at the International School lecturers to focus on these questions for Holocaust Studies has developed a series of in future training sessions. unique courses based on materials written specially “Over recent years, we have also for elementary school students, differentiated by of such a traumatic and complicated topic, an witnessed a significant change as age group and taking into account the abilities and encounter that goes far beyond any specific educational processes become increasingly emotional needs of the students. The majority of lesson plan,” explains Sarit Hoch, Director of reliant on communication technologies,” these courses open with an honest and meaningful the Teacher Training Department. “The courses continues Hoch. “We now face an exciting discussion with the teachers, examining the place we now offer therefore both enrich the teachers’ challenge to help teachers harness these new of the Holocaust in the children’s identity and knowledge and enable them to acquire the tools educational environments while staying true the fact that elementary schools in Israel play a to convey this knowledge to their students in to the special age-appropriate approach of the central role in its formation. an appropriate way.” International School for Holocaust Studies.” ”Over recent years, our courses for teachers For teachers working in subject areas The author is Head of the Educational Materials Development Section, Teacher Training Department, working with all grades – from first to twelfth – where the Holocaust is a topic of primary International School for Holocaust Studies. have tackled the teacher’s role in the presentation relevance, such as history and literature, Expanding the Network

■ “I want you to know how much I enjoyed the testimonies, lesson plans, interactive and Through online learning, Yad Vashem course […] I waited for each new lesson to come collaborative learning tools, texts, online journals, can disseminate its educational approach and online, and then could not stop reading and video lectures and learning environments. Over provide access to a wide variety of materials learning until it was done. This is a wonderful the years, the School website has also branched for those who would not necessarily explore project of exceptional importance, and I am out into various fields of online and interactive the Yad Vashem website in depth. In addition privileged to have participated in it.” learning, utilizing social networks and creating to enriching their historical and pedagogical So wrote a teacher from the US after virtual communities. knowledge, educators also act as emissaries on completing the online course offered by the behalf of the School when they use information International School for Holocaust Studies on the THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE acquired via the site in their classrooms. Upon topic of ghettos. The course is one of 19 online completing the online pedagogical course on courses provided in six languages currently “I never stop telling my story so Holocaust education, an Israeli teacher wrote: available at Yad Vashem’s “Virtual School.” anyone that hears me will be able “As a granddaughter of Auschwitz survivors, the Over recent years, thousands of teachers have to say – even when I am no longer Holocaust was always a presence – disturbing completed these online courses. here – ‘I heard Hannah Bar Yesha. and fascinating – in my conscience; yet teaching When the Virtual School was launched about the Holocaust was no easy task: I did not as a subsection of the Yad Vashem website in I knew her, I listened to her. She know how to go about it or whether I was doing 2000, it consisted of only a few pages with was there, and she told me.’” it right. The educational approach presented in scant educational material. Today it comprises Hannah Bar Yesha, subject of the the course – the human stories of the Jewish thousands of web pages featuring a wide variety documentary film She Was There and victims – certainly helped direct me and equipped of educational materials in 20 languages, She Told Me me with the tools and confidence necessary to including online courses, videos, survivor teach children of various ages. The material I 30 A World of Creativity and Diversity Daphna Gallili

■ Seventy years after the end of WWII, The search for answers led staff at the for initiating rich and fascinating discussions educators today face the great challenge of Guiding Department of the International School with students, soldiers, guides and educators, conveying the events of a somewhat distant for Holocaust Studies to create projects in various all of whom recognize the infinite ability of past to a young, diverse and often critical artistic fields. One such project, “Designing art to both convey knowledge and allow one Memory,” encourages design professionals and to relate to the Holocaust on a personal level. students, as well as members of the general Our partnership with young artists brings a THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE public, to submit proposals for Israel’s official further degree of diversity to the audience of Holocaust Remembrance Day poster. In another, those who seek knowledge on the Yad Vashem “The children conveyed my “Muzika: Youth Encounter the Holocaust,” high campus, allowing them to explore new areas feelings as a little girl so school students compose, arrange and perform in the broad field of Holocaust remembrance precisely – they even reminded songs based on texts written by poets who and study.” me of the emotions I felt at the went through the Holocaust. There is also the The author is Head of the Higher Education Division, time. To see them so deeply “Signposts: Students Shaping Memory” project, Guiding Department, International School for in which students of the Neri Bloomfield WIZO Holocaust Studies. moved… it was truly profound.” Academy of Design and Education in Haifa Betty Ben Atar, after watching the stage create postcard series examining various aspects adaptation of her memoirs performed by of Holocaust remembrance from personal and sixth-graders universal viewpoints. Other artistic encounters produce short animated films, children’s drawings and other artworks. Each such audience that lives light years away from encounter comprises two layers: the artistic layer, the reality of the Holocaust period. How can led by professionals from the relevant field; and we teach about the Holocaust in a manner that the layer of content, facilitated by staff at the awakens curiosity in today’s youth, and inspires Yad Vashem’s International School. them to continue learning, to delve deeper? How “Artistic language has become a significant do we communicate facts and historical details component of our seminar programs,” says and at the same time create a moving experience Inbal Kvity Ben Dov, Director of the Guiding that will remain with our younger audience as Department at the International School. “We a meaningful and valuable memory? have found it to be a most effective anchor

Dr. Naama Shik encountered – some for the first time, thanks Feedback from educators, teachers-in- to this course – and the study assignments for training and the broader public continues to which detailed feedback was provided, will indicate a great interest in the Virtual School; certainly help me in addressing the topic of the participants describe their learning experiences, Holocaust at school.” and most importantly, testify to how the rich Witness accounts are also at the center of variety of material continues to serve them today’s Holocaust education. However, as the and their students.“Recently, we completed a survivor generation dwindles, the experience series of activities at our school dedicated to of hearing testimony firsthand, with the International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” unparalleled empathy and emotion it stirs, will said one teacher. “All our teaching aids and soon no longer be possible. As such, in 2007 other materials were taken from your website – the Educational Technology Department joined both the lesson plans and the ceremony. These the Hebrew University’s Center for Multimedia materials were of tremendous help and allowed Assisted Instruction to produce films that tell us, primary school teachers, to adjust our the life stories of the survivors before the war, languages. So far, 11 testimony films have been teaching to the needs and perception levels of during the Holocaust and afterwards. Filmed produced in this “Witnesses and Education” our students, as well as their ability to cope with on location, where the actual events took place, series, and have reached an audience of tens such content… thank you, to all who toiled in these documentaries strive to convey as full and of thousands through the Virtual School, on this vital endeavor.” rich a story as possible. After production, the Yad Vashem’s YouTube channel as well as The author is Director of the Educational Technology films are translated into at least five languages; via screenings at the International School for Department, International School for Holocaust some are now available in as many as 12 students preparing for trips to Poland. Studies. educating, commemorating, exhibiting 31 Yad Vashem Online Technology in the Service of Memory

■ When the Yad Vashem website was unprecedented opportunities for Yad Vashem launched (in English and Hebrew) in 1999, to instantaneously communicate ideas, share its raison d’être was to make knowledge content, and actively engage with and connect about the Holocaust available, accessible to a broad and diverse public. By optimizing and meaningful to a global audience. Over the special features and advantages found recent years, and with the support of its many in the different social media platforms, the friends around the world, Yad Vashem has potential reach of the information shared launched comprehensive websites in Spanish, and “reshared” by others can easily reach German, Russian, Farsi and Arabic, to meet hundreds of thousands of people within a the ever-growing demand worldwide for 24-hour period. Holocaust-related information. On its Facebook page, the Internet The website offers a range of Holocaust- Department regularly posts timely and related resources, including: a thematic meaningful pictures and stories from the and chronological history of the Holocaust “Thank you, thank you, thank you a million times. Sharing the survivors’ stories really puts a face, a voice and the reality to the absolute barbarism of the Holocaust”

topic or location. Also available are over 150 online exhibitions and mini-sites providing “The online exhibitions experiential and informational content on a constitute an important wide variety of topics, such as the history of different communities before, during and after contribution both to the Shoah; women and children during the Holocaust; Jewish culture, music and art before strengthening the and during the war; and religious leadership intergenerational bond and and dilemmas in the face of brutal persecution and destruction. Materials for educators and to keeping the memory of teaching units in over 20 languages and an the Holocaust alive” online store with hundreds of books, catalogues and other Holocaust-related multimedia aids with extensive related resources such as round out this prize-winning, comprehensive photos, documents, artifacts, video clips and and user-friendly website, which continues to website such as from the “Spots of Light” artworks; online collections and databases be a vital source of information and insight for online exhibition posted on International such as the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ millions of people around the globe. Women’s Day; Jews engaged in sports before Names, Yad Vashem’s Photo Archives, the In addition to continuously developing the Holocaust posted before the 2012 Olympic Deportations Database, the Righteous Among relevant and meaningful content for the Games; and survivors with Israeli flags from the Nations Database, and the Library and websites, Yad Vashem recently expanded its archives and photo collection posted Film Databases; and a Video Testimony its online activities to include a dynamic continuously throughout Israel’s Independence Resource Center with hundreds of recorded presence in social media. Platforms such as Day. Through Twitter, continuous links are sent stories by Holocaust survivors searchable by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest offer out briefly describing events “On This Day in

32 Technology in the Service of Memory Dana Porath

“As heartbreaking as these documents are, it is vital that they are not only preserved, but also read by people now and in the future. Thank you for making them available online”

“I just wanted to commend you on your social media… I went on Birthright about five years ago and Yad Vashem was one of my favorite parts of my experience... I truly enjoy getting updates on the museum, on visitors who are making their way around the magnificent campus, and on educational initiatives through your albums and comments. Thank you for making it possible to help maintain my connection with Yad Vashem on a daily basis”

Holocaust History,” as well as promoting a host daily basis. Yad Vashem also sends out regular of conferences, gatherings, symposiums, events “tweets” in Arabic related to dates or events, and visits taking place at Yad Vashem on a providing pertinent, real-time information with links. Through Pinterest, topical boards are created that aggregate related resources from the website – such as religious artifacts, children’s creativity and the return to life of Holocaust survivors. Through all available platforms, Yad Vashem is committed to continue making the Holocaust meaningful and relevant to audiences of all nationalities and religions, thus ensuring its enduring commemoration and memory. The author is Director of the Internet Department. educating, commemorating, exhibiting 33 Righteous Among the Nations Courageous and Kind

■ For many members of the Second Righteous Among the Nations. “Despite the Generation, the Holocaust in general and growing distance in time from the events of their parents’ experiences in particular were the Holocaust, applications from Holocaust not a topic for discussion in their childhood survivors, rescuers, researchers and the general homes. Such was the case of Claire Hoffer (née public from all over the world continue to be Fox). Growing up in Canada in the 1950s and submitted to the Department of the Righteous,” 1960s, Claire knew nothing of how her parents explains Irena Steinfeldt, the Department’s survived the Holocaust. “In my early years I had Director. “This clearly illustrates that the need no interest,” says Claire, “and later I intuitively of the survivors to express their gratitude understood that any questions brought about a series of memories and nightmares.” But many years after her parents passed away, Claire’s THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE curiosity regarding the past and her family’s history motivated her to return for the first “There is a no more dignified time to her parents’ native towns in Poland and proper way to pay my own and Ukraine. personal, modest tribute, than As part of her preparations for the journey, Grocholskis took care of their every need, under Claire decided to research a name she had found when it is based upon that of my enormous risk. After the war they kept in touch, country and my people. I have among her father’s documents after his death: and continued to correspond even after Fuks Olga Grocholski. The name was written on an immigrated to Canada and changed his name all of this because you allowed envelope, along with an address in Poland. to Paul Fox. me to find solace, reconciliation She had no idea what the connection between In 1987, the Grocholskis were recognized by and acceptance with my her father and Grocholski was, but as she Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations, childhood memories of WWII.” searched for the name online she was directed to but sadly, Paul Fox had already passed away by Yad Vashem’s website, where, to her amazement, then. Now, 70 years after Fox knocked on the Dan Dagan she found the name of the woman she had Grocholskis’ door asking for help, his daughter been looking for. Claire was able to fill in the missing pieces of Through Yad Vashem, Claire discovered her family’s past. towards their rescuers has not diminished – that Olga Grocholski and her husband Józef Claire’s story is just one of many recent and neither has our commitment to continue had saved the life of Pawel Fuks during WWII. revelations to family members of both rescuers to seek out and honor these brave men and From the fall of 1943 to the spring of 1944, and survivors of the Holocaust, enabled women. However, while the interest of all Fuks and two Jewish women lay hidden in through the uploading of information to the involved remains high, the methods by which a dugout in the Grocholskis’ backyard. The Internet by Yad Vashem’s Department of the information is gathered and distributed have 34 To date, over 25,000 individuals have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations These individuals hail from 48 countries over five continents Every year, 400-500 people are honored as Righteous Among the Nations Gili Diamant

The need of the indispensable tool for educators, researchers THE SURVIVOR'S VOICE and historians,” continues Steinfeldt. “Moreover, survivors to express this easily-accessed information has deeply "Thanks to our rescuers, my touched the lives of family members of both their gratitude towards husband and I felt protected rescuers and Holocaust survivors.” their rescuers has from the fascist terror… They “It is never too late,” Claire Hoffer recently not diminished – should serve as role models for wrote to Yad Vashem, thanking them for their the younger generations." part in the discovery of her father’s rescuer. “I and neither has believe I should know my family’s story and Klara Levi certainly tell the Grocholskis’ descendants our commitment to that I still care, remember and am thankful for continue to seek out their grandparents’ kindness. They sheltered surrounding the rescue attempt, as well as the my father and others at risk to their own lives, and honor these brave historical background. “The availability of and in doing so they also gave them hope in men and women this valuable information, combined with the their fellow man.” database’s user-friendly interface, has already The author works in the Righteous Among the attracted numerous visitors, and become an Nations Department. changed remarkably over the past decade. As the Internet becomes more and more a part of everyday life, information that up until recently The Righteous Among the Nations had been almost impossible to obtain is now Program Marks 50 Years available at one’s fingertips.” ■ Over the past decade, the Righteous One of Yad Vashem’s principal duties is to convey the gratitude of the State of Israel and Department joined this information revolution, the Jewish people to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. This making a list of the more than 25,000 Righteous mission was defined by the law establishing Yad Vashem, and since 1963 members of staff at the recognized so far available on the Yad Vashem Department of the Righteous have worked diligently to piece together testimonies, documents and website. In addition, an extensive online photographic evidence in order to uncover as many details as possible of each story. Currently, database contains many detailed entries for hundreds of requests are received by the Department each year, and a public commission, headed people recognized over the years as Righteous by a Supreme Court Justice (currently Justice Jacob Türkel), examines each case presented to Among the Nations, with various search options them by the Department. Those deemed worthy of recognition – between 400 and 500 each year – and thousands of photographs. Each entry is receive a medal and a certificate of honor, and their names are commemorated on the Mount of accompanied by a short account of the events Remembrance in Jerusalem.

educating, commemorating, exhibiting 35 Landmarks in the History of Yad Vashem

1953 1955 1961 1962-3 1968 1973 Enactment of the Launch of collection Dedication Launch of Righteous First International Opening of the first Martyrs’ and Heroes’ of Shoah victims' of the Hall of Among the Nations Research Conference permanent exhibit Remembrance names via Pages of Remembrance Program and Opening held at Yad Vashem in the museum (Yad Vashem) Law Testimony of the Avenue of the building Righteous

1977 1982 1987 1992 1993 1993 Dedication of Establishment Dedication of Dedication of the Establishment of Establishment of the Hall of Names of the Holocaust the Children’s Valley of the the International the International Art Museum Memorial Communities Institute for Holocaust School for Holocaust Research Studies

1999 1999 1999 2000 2003 2004 Launch of Yad Vashem Digitization of the Dedication of the Dedication of the Israel Prize for Lifetime Launch of the Online website Pages of Testimony new building for the Archives and Achievement awarded Central Database of Collection International School Library Building to Yad Vashem Shoah Victims’ Names

2005 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 Inauguration of Uploading of Yad Names Database Launch of the “Gathering Opening of the new Opening of the new the new Museum Vashem’s Photographic reaches four million the Fragments” Campaign International Seminars Permanent Exhibition Complex Collection to the Shoah victims’ names to rescue personal Wing at the “Shoah" in Block 27, Internet items from the International School for Auschwitz-Birkenau, Holocaust era Holocaust Studies curated, designed and constructed by Yad Vashem

■ Yad Vashem Jerusalem Quarterly Magazine P.O. Box 3477, Jerusalem 91034, Israel Tel: 972-2-644-3400, Fax: 972-2-6443409 [email protected] www.yadvashem.org