Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum – Jerusalem, Israel
One should not visit Jerusalem, or Israel, without going to the beautiful and humbling Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. Lindsay and I decided to do this on a beautiful summer morning while staying in Jerusalem. We were staying in the old city and took a taxi to the museum which was located in the newer part of the city. For some reason I remember the ride that morning extremely well and we were both loving the chance to see another side of Jerusalem (the new city) as we looked out the windows of the taxi. The museum building itself is beautiful (it was designed by Moshe Safdiewho also designed the Salt Lake City public library) but we didn’t appreciate this fully until later on during the day. As we started to tour the museum we began to realize how well it was laid out. You pass through numerous rooms that are all designed to address different time periods leading up to the the war and Holocaust. I remember being particularly blown away in the room/section that discussed the Warsaw Ghetto and the tragedy that happened there. The hallways and rooms of this part of the museum were built to look like the streets of Warsaw’s Ghetto while images of what happened there played in nearby rooms. Although all of it was extremely moving there were two areas that were almost haunting. The first was the Hall of Names which has a large hole dug into the ground that represents the thousands of Holocaust victims that remain nameless or who have not been accounted for. The hole is literally dug into the ground and the museum has been built around it. You stand on a catwalk hung over the large hole and as you stare down into it, pondering what happened during this dark time in our worlds history, it leaves you feeling very somber. As I am writing this post I am quickly realizing that my words do not do justice to how beautiful, and haunting, the Hall of Names really is. Here is a description from the museums website:
The main circular hall houses the extensive collection of “Pages of Testimony” – short biographies of each Holocaust victim. Over two million Pages are stored in the circular repository around the outer edge of the Hall, with room for six million in all. The ceiling of the Hall is composed of a ten-meter high cone reaching skywards, displaying 600 photographs and fragments of Pages of Testimony. This exhibit represents a fraction of the murdered six million men, women and children from the diverse Jewish world destroyed by the Nazis and their accomplices. The victims’ portraits are reflected in water at the base of an opposing cone carved out of the mountain’s bedrock. At the far end of the Hall is a glass screen onto which Pages of Testimony are projected.
The second area that was particularly moving was the endless flame which was built to remember the children victims of the Holocaust. There is a small dark building that houses a small flame that is continually burning. It is surrounded by hundreds of mirrors which, in addition to the darkness, makes you feel like you are standing among thousands of candles/flames. Needless to say it is very humbling. Again, I am finding my words very inadequate to describe this so here is the description from the museums website:
This unique memorial, hollowed out from an underground cavern, is a tribute to the approximately 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered during the Holocaust. Memorial candles, a customary Jewish tradition to remember the dead, are reflected infinitely in a dark and somber space, creating the impression of millions of stars shining in the firmament. The names of murdered children, their ages and countries of origin can be heard in the background.
As the museum ends you walk outside onto a large deck that jets out directly from the main building and offers and expansive view across Jerusalem. It is as if they are trying to say there is a new horizon and brighter days ahead. It was only after touring the museum that we realized how well designed the building really was. If you ever find yourself in Israel, specifically Jerusalem, do not miss the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.
The main circular hall houses the extensive collection of “Pages of Testimony” – short biographies of each Holocaust victim. Over two million Pages are stored in the circular repository around the outer edge of the Hall, with room for six million in all. The ceiling of the Hall is composed of a ten-meter high cone reaching skywards, displaying 600 photographs and fragments of Pages of Testimony. This exhibit represents a fraction of the murdered six million men, women and children from the diverse Jewish world destroyed by the Nazis and their accomplices. The victims’ portraits are reflected in water at the base of an opposing cone carved out of the mountain’s bedrock. At the far end of the Hall is a glass screen onto which Pages of Testimony are projected.
The second area that was particularly moving was the endless flame which was built to remember the children victims of the Holocaust. There is a small dark building that houses a small flame that is continually burning. It is surrounded by hundreds of mirrors which, in addition to the darkness, makes you feel like you are standing among thousands of candles/flames. Needless to say it is very humbling. Again, I am finding my words very inadequate to describe this so here is the description from the museums website:
This unique memorial, hollowed out from an underground cavern, is a tribute to the approximately 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered during the Holocaust. Memorial candles, a customary Jewish tradition to remember the dead, are reflected infinitely in a dark and somber space, creating the impression of millions of stars shining in the firmament. The names of murdered children, their ages and countries of origin can be heard in the background.
As the museum ends you walk outside onto a large deck that jets out directly from the main building and offers and expansive view across Jerusalem. It is as if they are trying to say there is a new horizon and brighter days ahead. It was only after touring the museum that we realized how well designed the building really was. If you ever find yourself in Israel, specifically Jerusalem, do not miss the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum.
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