Yad Vashem, taken from the book of Isaiah and meaning “a memorial and a name,” is a memorial complex devoted to documenting the events of the Holocaust and the history of the Jewish people. Explore the on-site museum, reflect at the moving Children’s Memorial and ponder the fate of concentration camp prisoners at the Hall of Remembrance.
Read about the history of Yad Vashem. Originally founded in 1953 as an organization dedicated to documenting the Holocaust, Yad Vashem opened this memorial Holocaust center in 2005.
Learn about the history of anti-Semitism in Europe and follow exhibits documenting the events leading up to the Holocaust at the Holocaust History Museum. Examine artifacts, listen to personal accounts of life in concentration camps, and view photographs.
Take some time to remember the millions of murdered Jews at the Hall of Remembrance. Here, an eternal flame burns in perpetuity. Equally moving is the children’s memorial, commemorating the estimated 1.5 million Jewish children who lost their lives during the Holocaust. Designed by Israeli-Canadian architect Moshe Safdie, the memorial comprises a dark underground cavern, inside which candle flames reflect off surrounding mirrors.
Stroll along the Avenue of the Righteous, which circles around the campus. The trees on either side were planted to pay tribute to non-Jews who risked their lives to come to the aid of Jewish people during the Holocaust.
Other memorials at the complex include the Memorial to the Deportees, which shows a cattle car on the edge of train tracks jutting out from a cliff. Don’t miss the haunting Hall of Names, where the names of victims given by family and friends are recorded. A memorial cave represents the unnamed victims of the Holocaust, who were not survived by family and friends and whose names were therefore never provided.
Find Yad Vashem on Mount Remembrance in Jerusalem. Take the light rail train to Mount Herzl a shuttle bus transports visitors from there. The memorial is open from Sunday through Friday. Admission is free.
