Jerusalem - Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem is the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem.  Yad Vashem means 'A Memorial and A Name' and comes from the scripture of Isaiah.  In this case, it's a memorial and a name for the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust who weren't given the dignity of a Jewish burial.

You can see in the picture above, to the left of the entrance building is a triangular building.  That triangular building is the Holocaust Museum.  The building is shaped like half of a Star of David, to represent the half of the Jewish people that is empty and lost after the atrocities of the Holocaust.

This museum is so vast; it is the most intense and emotionally overwhelming museum I have ever been to.  The museum tells you hundreds, thousands, of people's individual stories, their life and unique gifts, and the story of their inhumane treatment and death.  It describes how the Nazi regime started and grew.  I knew that Hitler hated the Jewish people, but I had absolutely no idea how deep-rooted antisemitism was in Europe.  Antisemitism in Europe goes back centuries before Hitler.  In the museum are antique dishes, ashtrays, posters, and board games depicting anti-Jewish stereotypes and sentiments.  It's appalling.  Reading the stories of families who were murdered all over Europe, watching video interviews of survivors who barely made it out alive and their entire families lost - I cried for hours as I walked through the museum.  I felt deep outrage as I read about the treatment of the victims and the knowledge of the United States, who only let in 1,000 refugees into the U.S.  Did you know that the United States bombed Auschwitz camp II, but not Auschwitz camp I right next-door, where all the worst murders were taking place?  They had to have known what was going on there; why didn't the U.S. help more?  

I saw Schindler's List in a memorial for non-Jews who helped Jews survive the Holocaust.  There is the Hall of Names, so that every victim of the Holocaust will forever be remembered.  At the end of the museum, the triangle opens like wings flying away and the building juts out over a beautiful view from Mt. Herzl.  When you emerge from the museum, you feel like a different person, a person who has seen the true ugliness possible in this world, a person who has seen the hope of some of these victims become actualised, and a person who has seen the triumph of the Jewish people. 

This boxcar memorial overlooks the Garden of the Righteous.  The boxcar reminds us of the horrific, inhumane treatment of the millions of Holocaust victims.  We must never forget that this happened, as our generations continue forward.  We must never forget and always ensure this doesn't happen again, to any people, anywhere in the world.

We searched and searched through the Garden of the Righteous, a memorial commemorating non-Jews that protected Jews during the Holocaust.  We finally found Julia Symchuck and her parents listed in the today's Ukraine section, even though it was Brody, Poland back then, where she protected Jeremy's grandfather and his family.  Lighting a candle and saying a prayer for Julie and her parents was with mixed emotions.  We mourned the loss of Grandpa Henry's other family members and the experience his immediate family had to endure, but we also celebrated the life that Grandpa Henry has led; we are just a few people in our large family that love Grandpa Henry so much and are so proud of his endeavours to teach people in the United States about the Holocaust.

It was hard not to tear up as we wrote a letter for Julia and tucked it into the memorial.  In each of our own ways, we wrote out our thanks that our family members were saved and that is the reason we are living our lives today.  Because of Julia and her parents saving Grandpa Henry's life, I met Jeremy, the love of my life and my future husband.