Yad Vashem ~ The Holocaust Museum and a trip to Zichron Yaacob

I took Isaac, Caleb and Eliana to Yad Vashem this past week. It is not an appropriate place for young children and so Jeff took the three younger ones to a park. One could really spend an entire day at the Holocaust Museum because there is so much information. The stories are heartbreaking, the pictures leave you speechless and the original media footage leaves you in tears. Understandably, no pictures are allowed to be taken inside the Holocaust History Museum. And rightly so. The stories are not be plastered upon the pages of books but rather engraved upon our minds forever.

Eighteen years ago, this museum was very different when I visited. It is now a memorial, a place to learn, a collaboration of stories and memories. We wove our way through the rooms which were filled with the harsh reality of the Holocaust; unable to pass each story without pausing to read or listen. Every person enters this building knowing something from the history books but everyone leaves with the stories written upon their hearts.

The Holocaust was the murder by Nazi Germany of six million Jews. While the Nazi persecution of the Jews began in 1933, the mass murder was committed during World War II. It took the Germans and their accomplices four and a half years to murder six million Jews. They were at their most efficient from April to November 1942 – 250 days in which they murdered some two and a half million Jews. They never showed any restraint, they slowed down only when they began to run out of Jews to kill, and they only stopped when the Allies defeated them.

There was no escape. The murderers were not content with destroying the communities; they also traced each hidden Jew and hunted down each fugitive. The crime of being a Jew was so great, that every single one had to be put to death – the men, the women, the children; the committed, the disinterested, the apostates; the healthy and creative, the sickly and the lazy – all were meant to suffer and die, with no reprieve, no hope, no possible amnesty, nor chance for alleviation.

Most of the Jews of Europe were dead by 1945. A civilization that had flourished for almost 2,000 years was no more. The survivors – one from a town, two from a host – dazed, emaciated, bereaved beyond measure, gathered the remnants of their vitality and the remaining sparks of their humanity, and rebuilt. They never meted out justice to their tormentors – for what justice could ever be achieved after such a crime? Rather, they turned to rebuilding: new families forever under the shadow of those absent; new life stories, forever warped by the wounds; new communities, forever haunted by the loss.

(Taken from the Yad Vashem website). 

The main entrance.

"I will put My breath into you and you shall live again and I will set you upon your own soil"

Ezekiel 37:14

The Holocaust History Museum.

Pillar of Heroism.

The Children's Memorial which is very sobering. This unique memorial, hollowed out from an underground cavern is a tribute to the 1.5 million Jewish children who were killed during the Holocaust. As we walked through, we heard the names of the children, their ages and where the country they were from.

The Cattle Car Memorial to the Deportees.  Millions of Jews were herded onto cattle-cars and transported from all over Europe to the extermination camps. The Polish authorities gave this original German cattle-car to Yad Vashem. 

“And so, within seven months, I lost my father, my brother, and my mother. I am the only one who survived. This is what the Germans did to us, and these are things that should never be forgotten. On the other hand, we had our revenge: the survivors were able to raise magnificent families – among them myself. This is the revenge and the consolation.”

Zvi Kopolovich

'And I shall give them in My house within My walls a memorial and a name (a "Yad Vashem")… that shall not be cut off.'

Isaiah 56:5

The next day, we were blessed to visit  Tishbi; a winery and vineyard in Zichron Yaacob with a restaurant and bakery for visitors. It is remarkable to see the fulfilment of prophecy concerning the Jews returning to their land and the establishment of Israel as a nation. On the heels of the Holocaust, this is exactly what the Lord accomplished! After visiting Yad Vashem the day before, it was encouraging to see the fulfilment for ourselves!

“On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
 That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing.

 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
 I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God. 

Amos 9:11-15

We met up with a sweet couple who are from America but have been living here in Israel for over 30 years and also another family whom I had never met before who are originally from the Ukraine. They have a darling little boy and another child on the way. Elijah made a friend! 

The chocolates are imported from France.

Once again, another wonderful lunch! Caramelised pumpkin and roasted beetroot with rocket.

After lunch, our friends took us to Ramat Hanadiv which is the most beautiful garden in Israel, dedicated to the memory of Baron Edmond de Rothschild who was a major figure in the establishment of Israel. It is certainly the most 'green' area I have seen here and the herb garden and the rose garden were my favourites.

A natural spring.

The town is beautiful and very quaint with small boutiques, restaurants and gift shops lining the streets. I absolutely loved it there! I guess because it reminded me of home ;).

Of course we found an Italian gelato parlour….

My Italian husband!