Yad Vashem Unveils Groundbreaking New Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus and David & Fela Shapell Family Collections Center
On Monday (8 July 2024), Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center inaugurated, in the presence of the President of the State of Israel, H.E. Mr. Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal Herzog, the new Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus and the new David & Fela Shapell Family Collections Center at its heart. The new Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus also includes the Joseph Wilf Curatorial Center, the Wolfson Gallery featuring a new Video Art Wall Installation created by renowned video artist Ran Slavin and curated by Director of the Yad Vashem Archives, Museums and Collections Medy Shvide, and a new innovative auditorium and exhibition hall. The, 5-story, subterranean state-of-the-art structure, now houses Yad Vashem's vast collections of Holocaust-related artifacts, documentation, photography and artwork. The Collections Center is the epicenter of Yad Vashem's mission to safeguard these 'everlasting witnesses' of the atrocities of the Holocaust, ensuring their preservation of these hundreds of millions of items for future generations.
The inauguration of this ambitious project, initiated by Yad Vashem back in 2016, was kicked off on Sunday, 7 July 2024, with a stirring concert at the Jerusalem Theatre. This unique event seamlessly wove together classical and Jewish music with images of Yad Vashem's world-class archival collection. The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, led by Amos Boasson and featuring Violins for Hope, accompanied by the Neve Shir Choir and Cantor Simon Cohen, delivered soul-stirring performances of classical arrangements and beloved Jewish melodies.
The evening reached an emotional crescendo with a performance by IDF Reservist and violinist Mordechai Shenvald, who was injured in the wake of the October 7th Massacre in Gaza. Grandson of Holocaust survivors, Mordechai Shenvald played on a violin from Yad Vashem's Artifact Collection. This violin once belonged to Motale Shlain, a young Jewish partisan fighter who was killed, at the age of 14, while fighting the German army. Mordechai's moving rendition of the theme song from Steve Spielberg's film, "Schindler's List", embodied the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unspeakable adversity.
At yesterday's investiture ceremony, Israel's President, H.E. Mr. Isaac Herzog, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan, Holocaust survivor and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Martin and Ilana Moshal and Irvin Shapell all spoke about Yad Vashem's unprecedented commitment to ensuring that the treasures from the Holocaust are preserved and protected at Yad Vashem for future generations.
Reflecting on the significance of the new facilities, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan reaffirmed the critical importance of Holocaust remembrance. "The few remaining items are invaluable, each a precious link to our past. Even after eighty years, the events of the Holocaust remain beyond our full comprehension. We believe that personal stories and belongings allow us to weave fragments of the tapestry of remembrance, six-million puzzle pieces and offer a glimpse into the lives of the Jewish people and communities of Europe and North Africa."
Chairman Dayan continued, "The national treasures to be housed here are deeply meaningful to us, both as Jews and as human beings. They bear silent witness to our people's experience during the Holocaust. To me, the collections housed here represent the crown jewels of the Jewish people—they are our very DNA. These artifacts will stand as a testament to our history, resilience, and culture for generations to come."
In his address, President Herzog stated, "Many of these items have been entrusted to Yad Vashem over the years with the purpose of giving voice and identity to the victims. Each item carries a story, a story of life, hope, and pain. These items connect us to the past and remind us of our responsibility to remember and to remind. Each one of them is a pillar of memory that cannot be toppled, a message that the past sends to the present and future.
President Herzog continued, "It is our duty to keep this memory alive, to give it the proper honor, and to preserve and share it for future generations. And thanks to all those who led this amazing project, we remember those who lost their lives, those who fought, and those who survived and witnessed the importance of memory. Thank you for being partners in this journey of remembrance. Thank you also to Yad Vashem, the management, the staff, and the thousands of volunteers and supporters worldwide for their dedication and mission - in the name of a whole nation. Together, we will continue to shed light on the truth and preserve the memory, for those who were, for those who will be, and for all of humanity."
As Yad Vashem embarks on this new chapter, these world-class facilities stand as beacons of remembrance, education, and hope—ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust continue to resonate and inspire future generations.
About the Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus and the David & Fela Shapell Family Collections Center:
Located on Yad Vashem's Mount of Remembrance, the Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus spans some 6,000 square meters. The heart of the Campus lies the new David & Fela Shapell Family Collections Center. It is here that Yad Vashem preserves, restores, and stores these Holocaust-related objects in a state-of-the-art facility. Boasting five world's most advanced laboratories for paper, photographs, artifacts, textiles and art, the center will preserve Yad Vashem collections including 227.6 million pages of documentation, nearly 40,000 artifacts, 14,000 works of art, 541,000 archival photographs and films, 2.8 million Pages of Testimony and tens of thousands of Holocaust survivor testimonies. Each item here tells a unique and poignant story of individuals, families, and communities that endured the Holocaust.
Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, was established in 1953. Located in Jerusalem, it is dedicated to Holocaust commemoration, documentation, research and education.
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