To say I enjoyed my visit to Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, wouldn’t be an accurate account. But, to say it was anything less than the most impactful and moving experience in a very long time would be a gross understatement.
I can be more crotchety than I like to admit sometimes and often find myself complaining about stuff that in reality I know really isn’t all that bad or simply doesn’t matter at all. A few hours at Yad Vashem put all my so assumed woes in proper perspective though. A 45-acre site atop Har Hazikaron (Jerusalem’s Mount of Remembrance) with the most extensive Holocaust Library and Archives in the world and a mission to commemorate “the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators” and to preserve “the heritage of the thousands of Jewish communities destroyed” while paying “tribute to the heroic stand of the fighters and of the ghetto inmates and honouring the Righteous among the Nations who risked their lives to save Jews” is a must-see ‘attraction’ in Jerusalem. Just be sure you to bring plenty of tissues when you go (I kept my sunglasses on most of the time I was there).
I spent a few hours at Yad Vashem and wished I had had a whole day there. As emotionally devastating as the subject matter was – particularly at the Children’s Memorial – smart architecture, thoughtful design, and commanding views over the city all worked to elicit an overall uplifting element during my visit. Watching the harrowing and heroic accounts documented in the many videos testimonials throughout the Holocaust History Museum and seeing the results of the dedicated work carried out (still to this day) at the Hall of Names (where the names and personal details of millions of victims have been recorded and preserved) profoundly inspired me and instilled within me a sense of vigilance.
For a unique opportunity to shake any cranky propensity, go to Yad Vashem. It’s a beautiful place infused with determination to ensure nothing as horrific as the Holocaust ever happens again.
Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, is located at Har Hazikaron, Jerusalem 9103401. Find out more at yadvashem.org.
More to come soon in my short series of posts recounting my Jerusalem City Break.
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