Editors’ Remarks

Since Yad Vashem uploaded the Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names to the Internet in November, we have been inundated with thousands of responses from survivors and their families, educators and ordinary “surfers” from all over the world. “Looking at the individual photographs and stories,” wrote one person, “I am constantly saddened and sickened by what happened. To see these is far more meaningful than to think of  ‘six million.’ [By uploading the Names Database] you are creating an identity for all the victims.” A teacher commented: “I am overwhelmed by the resource that is now available to everyone... I know I'll make use of it as an educator and I'm sure it will also be a great impetus to survivors to add missing victims to the Pages of Testimony.” “Quite a memorial,” remarked a person who lost relatives in the Shoah. “I am amazed at what can be researched with the click of a mouse… Reading the information and their documents gives them humanity once again.”

In just a few weeks, Yad Vashem will open the doors of the new Holocaust History Museum at an historic state ceremony. Some four times the size of the current Historical Museum, the new Museum will present the story of the Shoah from a unique Jewish perspective, emphasizing the experiences of the individual victims through original artifacts, survivor testimonies, film, photographs and artwork. Using state-of-the-art exhibits and the best of Yad Vashem’s expertise and resources, the new Museum allows the legacy and implications of Holocaust remembrance to be passed on to the next generations.

Copyright ©2004 Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority