We visit the new Children in the Holocaust Exhibition at Yad Vashem

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Yesterday, a few days before Yom Hashoah, Yad Vashem opened a new exhibition entitled “Children in the Holocaust: Stars without a Heaven.”

Dolls

It gives expression to the lives of 1.5 million children who were murdered in the Holocaust, displaying stories that remained of these children or the stories of the few who survived.

J-Wire’s Israel based correspondent, Michael Kuttner, attended the media preview held prior to the official opening.

Avner Shalev, Director of the Museum Division at Yad Vashem and Yehudit Inbar, the exhibition curator, spoke to a gathering of media representatives from many countries.

In their remarks they stressed that the murder of 1.5 million Jewish children demonstrated the ultimate evil of an ideology which dedicated itself to the wiping out of an entire future generation and had no compunction in murdering little children as well as adults.

The exhibition is structured around eight major themes: play, study, friendship, who am I? Work, home, family and rites of passage. At the entrance a video displays the world of the children before the Holocaust. The exhibition itself deals with the Holocaust and shows personal items, toys, stories, diaries and experiences of the children concerned.

The effect is overwhelming and one leaves the hall with an awareness of the immense tragedy which occurred in Europe not so long ago. The personal story of survivors who made it to Palestine and who relive their nightmares on a daily basis is harrowing yet at the same time uplifting because most of them were and are determined to live fulfilling lives and ensure that the next generation learns from their experiences.

The photos will give you some idea of the scope of the exhibition. It will remain open to the public for the entire year and is a highly recommended “must see” for overseas visitors and locals alike.