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Monday, February 20, 2006
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YAD VASHEM
Jerusalem’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust (Shoah) received its name
from Isaiah 56:5: “To them I will give in My house and within My walls a
memorial and a name [yad vashem – oau sh] better than that of sons and
daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.”
On Aug. 19, 1953, the Knesset voted to erect a memorial site for the victims and
heroes of the Holocaust. Yad Vashem is managed by the Israeli government, the
Jewish Agency, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the Conference on Jewish
Material Claims. In addition to the memorial, Yad Vashem houses a museum, a
library, and an extensive archive for Holocaust research.
Foreign dignitaries visiting Israel usually lay a wreath in the Hall of
Remembrance (ohel yizkor), which has the names of the death camps
engraved on the floor and the eternal flame.
Last spring, 60 years after WWII, Yad Vashem opened a new museum dedicated to
the victims of the Holocaust.
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