Yad Vashem: The Challenge of Shaping a Holocaust Remembrance Site, 1942–1976

Description

In this fascinating book, the planning and building of Yad Vashem, Israel's central and most important institution for commemorating the Holocaust, merits an outstanding in-depth account. Following the development of Yad Vashem since 1942, when the idea to commemorate the Holocaust in Eretz-Israel was raised for the first time, the narrative continues until the inauguration of Nathan Rapoport's Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial in 1976. The prolonged and complicated planning process of Yad Vashem's various monuments reveals the debates, failures and achievements involved in commemorating the Holocaust. In reading this thought-provoking description, one learns how Israel's leaders aspired both to fulfill a moral debt towards the victims of the Holocaust a well as to make Yad Vashem an exclusive center of Holocaust commemoration both in the Jewish world and beyond. Preface Contents List of Illustrations Introduction Chapter 1 Yad Vashem until the End of 1948 Chapter 2 From Statehood until the Enactment of the Yad Vashem Law in August 1953 Chapter 3 Building the Mount of Remembrance: First Steps Chapter 4 The Path to the Hall of Remembrance’s Construction Chapter 5 The Mount of Remembrance: A New Look Conclusion The Road to Remembrance Bibliography Index