Michal Freundlich
Age 13
Torah Day School of Atlanta
Mrs. Rhoda Gleicher
Yad Vashem
As Israel approaches its 60th birthday we must pause and reflect about the great gift G-d has given not only
to the Jewish people, but to the world community as well. The State of Israel is a nation committed to the values of
democracy and has contributed mightily to science, medicine and technology. More importantly, the very survival
of Israel represents the eternal truth that forces of good will ultimately prevail over the forces of evil. The Jewish
state was born out of the ashes of the Holocaust. The demonic Nazis who sought to annihilate the Jewish people
have for the most part disappeared while Israel at sixty continues to flourish and serve as a beacon of morality
and decency to the community of nations. I believe that Israel’s message to all mankind is bolstered by the Yad
Vashem Holocaust museum.
Yad Vashem, a holocaust memorial was established in 1953 by the parliament of the State of Israel, known
as the Knesset. Yad Vashem is not only a Holocaust memorial museum that documents the atrocities of the
Holocaust. Moreover, it teaches the value of life, making it a point to discuss and record each and every
individual possible who perished in the Holocaust. The message is clear. Every person is a world to himself. In
fact, the Talmud teaches “Whoever saves a life is as if he saved a whole world.” The Yad Vashem complex plays
a vital role with its programming and educational tools. It vividly keeps alive in the consciousness of mankind the
terrible evil that can be unleashed by corrupt people. It also records the heroic efforts of Jews and non Jews alike
who risked their lives to stand firmly against this evil. This reminds all of us about the great potential we all have
to make a difference and move the world in a positive direction.
At Yad Vashem, there are different hallways and rooms filled with belongings from those who perished in the
Holocaust. The Archive Collection is the biggest and most wide-ranging collection of information about the
Holocaust in the entire world. It has millions of pages of documents, hundreds of thousands of pictures and
thousands of videotaped interviews hearing from survivors of the Holocaust.
We all have heard repeatedly, about the millions who were slaughtered. It is too difficult for most of us to
grasp what this really means. In The Hall of Names there are symbolic gravestones known as “The Pages Of
Testimony”. These pages give biographical sketches and information about millions of the victims. This serves to
recognize each individual as somthing precious that was lost and also helps us get a sense of how enormous the
loss of life really was.
The Historical Museum records in a very detailed manner the history of the Holocaust. A variety of materials are
employed to present a full chronology of the events starting with the anti-Jewish discriminatory policies, that led to
Jews being placed in ghettos and finally the transferring of the Jews to the death camps.
The Art Museum has collections of different work that people created during very difficult times under the
Nazis. This not only displays the creative talents of Jewish prisoners, but reveals a strong spirit that could not be
crushed by the barbaric Nazis.
The Hall of Remembering, Children’s Memorial, Valley of the Communities, The Avenue and Garden, and
The Memorial of the Deportees, are some other important places found in the Yad Vashem complex.
Etched on the stones of the floor of The Hall of Remembering are the names of the six infamous death
camps, and some of the other concentration camps and places where Jews were taken to be killed. In the front of
the memorial flame is a receptacle holding the ashes of some of the victims of the Holocaust.
The Children’s Memorial eternalizes the memory of the more then one and a half million children who were killed.
In dramatic fashion, candles representing the human soul are reflected in a large dark room. One is almost
haunted by the thought that each candle symbolizes a lost soul.
The Valley of the Communities lists more then the five thousand communities that were lost and the few that
somehow survived the Nazi onslaught. The names of these communities are imprinted on the huge stone walls on
the two and half acre monument that was dug out of natural bedrock.
In The Memorial of Deportees we find one of the original cattle cars that brought thousands of Jews to death
camps.
The Avenue and Garden is dedicated to the righteous gentiles who displayed great heroism in risking their
lives to save the Jews. Thousands of trees have been planted in honor of these noble individuals. Their moral
courage is a lesson for all of mankind.
In short, Yad Vashem is the story of good and evil and the great strength within all of us to counter that evil
and keep the world on the right track. This is what the Jewish state is all about. The Mishna in Pirkei Avot
teaches, “Ben Shishim L’zikneh.” Our sages understand this to mean, that at the age of sixty one acquires keen
intellectual maturity. May Israel’s sixtieth birthday endow it with the wisdom and maturity to meet all its challenges
and continue to be a shining light for the community of nations.
Bibliography
Unknown author. “About Yad Vashem.”[Online] Available http//www1.yadvashem.org/abou