Judaism Step-by-step

Divisions 3 - Holocaust

Yad Vashem and Responses to the Holocaust

During the Second World War, six of the eight million European Jews were murdered. That was one third of all of the Jews worldwide. Individuals, families and whole communities were wiped out. As a result, modern Jews feel the need for:

a way of remembering the Holocaust
an answer to the question: WHY? (if you have time, look at aish.com's Holocaust: Issues)

This question is particularly important because Jews believe they are in a special relationship (covenant) with God, in which God has promised to protect them. How can a loving God allow such things to happen, particularly to His chosen people?

Yad Vashem (literally 'a place, a name') is the most well known Holocaust memorial. Situated in Israel, it contains a library, an archive with millions of pages of information and evidence regarding the Holocaust, as well as a museum that retells the story of the Holocaust through photographs, artifacts, documents, and audio-visual aids. It also includes information on over three of the six million victims of the Holocaust. For more information, have a look at the Yad Vashem website.

Have a go at the following question [1996 Q4, 1999 Q4]:

Explain how a visit to Yad Vashem might change [affect] the life of a Jew. [7]

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