Yad Vashem

Jewish woman once held up by Nazis as ideal Aryan baby dead at 91

Born in Berlin in 1934 to Latvian Jewish parents Jacob and Polin Levinson, Taft was photographed when she was 6 months old by a German photographer, Hans Ballin.

HESSY TAFT poses holding a photograph of herself taken in 1935 by well-known German photographer Hans Ballin during an interview with Reuters July 9, 2014.
President Isaac Herzog (C) flanked by Dayan and IHRA Secretary-General Michaela Küchler at the IHRA plenary

At the crossroads of Holocaust remembrance

Megilat Hitler, now displayed at Yad Vashem's active synagogue, which opened on January 1.

Faith under persecution: Yad Vashem exhibit on keeping the Jewish calendar in the Shoah opens

As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches we ask whether the lessons of the past have taught us anything?

Happy(ish) New Year: Holocaust remembrance as warning in an age of resurgent antisemitism


October 7 hero creates 'Survived to tell' initiative to recount survivor testimonies

Turning tragedy into teachable moments through virtual reality: This project aims to spark a global dialogue rooted in empathy and recognizing our shared humanity.

 “Survived to Tell – Be the Witness” experience.

The state of Holocaust education is dire, and the situation is failing survivors - opinion

The rot goes much deeper and has spread among the highly educated who don’t dispute that the Holocaust happened – and even commemorate it.

 ‘THE WORLD Must Know: The History of the Holocaust as told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’; Holocaust education, which includes books like this one, is failing survivors, says the writer.

Holocaust researchers use AI to search for unnamed victims

The technology used can quickly and efficiently process testimonies and identify names.

 Visitors tour an exhibition ahead of Israel's national Holocaust memorial day, at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem

Holocaust Remembrance Day: Observing with renewed urgency post-Oct. 7

Remembering, reflecting, and raising awareness: Holocaust Remembrance Day 2024 in the shadow of Oct. 7.

 View of Lublin Street in Chełm, Poland, pre-war. (Courtesy Yad Vashem, Source: ‘Chelm Yizkor Buch,’ published by the Chelmner Landsmannschaft in Yiddish, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1954)

Yad Vashem, Prison Service reveal Holocaust education for inmates

This joint Yad Vashem and Israel Prison Service initiative is part of a broader educational movement within the penal system.

 Inmates take part in program that teaches Holocaust education.

Holocaust Remembrance Day: Six stories of survival, resilience

The heart-wrenching Holocaust stories of Pnina Hefer, Allegra Gutta, Arie Eitani, Raisa Brodsky, Michael Bar-On, and Izi Kabilio.

 A SURVIVOR lights a torch at Yad Vashem on Holocaust Remembrance Day 2021.

Grapevine, May 2, 2024: Heroes and heroines

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

 Israeli soldiers look up at pictures of victims of the Holocaust at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre, ahead of the Holocaust Remembrance Day starting this evening, at the Hall of Names, in Jerusalem April 27, 2022.

UK officials cover London Holocaust memorial over vandalization fears

The Holocaust memorial in Hyde Park, London, was covered by officials in fear that it might be vandalized by pro-Palestinian protesters.

 A woman and a child stand next to the Holocaust memorial in Hyde Park, covered by a tarpaulin, on the day of a march in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in London, April 27, 2024.

Yad Vashem Chairman to Columbia president: 'The time has come for you to take a stand'

Dayan implored Dr. Shafik to “lead with moral principles, not only with administrative regulations. Speak up.”

 DANI DAYAN at Yad Vashem – caught in a cross fire.

President Herzog gifts Babylonian Talmud that survived the Holocaust to Yad Vashem

The Talmud had been entrusted to Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Herzog in 1946, while he was recovering Jewish children hiding in non-Jewish homes and monastries.

Babylonian Talmud that survived the Holocaust gifted to Yad Vashem by President Herzog, April 17, 2024.