The term “yad vashem” comes from the Book of Isaiah and can be translated as “a place to memorialize.” Yad Vashem (World Holocaust Remembrance Center) in Jerusalem is the world’s most important Holocaust museum — a memorial to the 6 million Jewish lives lost.
The complex comprises two museums, the Holocaust History Museum and an Art Museum, as well as an exhibition pavilion, learning center and a synagogue. The centerpiece is the history museum, housed within a triangular prism-shaped structure running through the center of campus. Nine underground galleries recount the story of the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective through artifacts, survivor testimonies, personal possessions and audio-visual presentations. A visit to the museum ends in the Hall of Names, a place where the names and stories of millions of victims are recorded.
The Art Museum houses the largest and most diverse collection of Holocaust art in the world — some 10,000 works — mostly produced during the Holocaust period.
Children under the age of 10 are not permitted inside the Holocaust History Museum. Audio guides of the museum are available at the visitor center.