The Significance of Yad Vashem's Location

 

Picture depicting an outer part of Yad Vashem

Researching Yad Vashem this week has led me to understand the importance of it being located in Jerusalem. This is because the Jewish people had not had an independent state ever since the Roman diaspora in the 1st century CE, which we have read in Armstrong’s Jerusalem: Once City, Three Faiths. This diaspora, as a result, forced a majority of the Jewish people out of Jerusalem for about 2,000 years to when Israel was founded in 1948. Therefore, now being able to hold such a monumental museum in Jerusalem is a remarkable achievement for the Jewish community as well as for other victims of the Holocaust.

This is particularly true considering the aims of the Zionist movement. Started by Theodor Herzl in the late 19th century, the movement aimed to create an independent state for the Jewish people who had been suffering antisemitism in Europe for centuries. Because of this, “Hundreds of thousands of Jews across Europe and beyond became active Zionists who wanted to prepare for a life in Israel” (Holocaust Encyclopedia). Now this is truly tragic considering a large majority of European Jews would not be able to move to this independent state that would be Israel, but it would have inspired survivors to do so. To live a dream that their predecessors and relatives were not able to live. 

The return to Israel by a large amount of the Jewish population also consolidates the idea that Israel is a holy space to the Jewish people, which is especially true considering their historically rich but tragic past in that piece of land. This is mainly attributed to the Roman occupation which “banned [Jews] from Jerusalem and the whole of Judea” after several rebellions (Armstrong 164). I therefore find the Jewish return to Jerusalem to show the power of sacredness because their previous Jerusalem had been wiped out over the years, but they still had a longing for the city. 

The Jewish people’s longing for Jerusalem and finally being able to call it home once again is subsequently importantly represented by Yad Vashem. The museum encapsulates the devastating recent history of the Jewish people, yet its location would have likely made Holocaust victims proud. The long fought Zionism movement therefore successfully attained an independent Jewish state in none other than the place where Judaism first blossomed as a religion. In which case, the artifacts and contents that are exhibited at Yad Vashem are impactful, but its location is what makes it the center of worldwide Holocaust remembrance.

Citation (s):

United States Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC. "Holocaust Survivors and the Establishment of the State of Israel (May 14, 1948)." Holocaust Encyclopedia. Last Edited 19 Apr. 2023. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.

(Picture Link) https://www.safdiearchitects.com/projects/yad-vashem-holocaust-history-museum