Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

Yad Vashem is the official memorial to Holocaust victims.  The center in Jerusalem opened in 1953.  It is a major research and education center.  After the Western Wall, it is the second most visited tourist site in Israel.



The Pillar of Heroism was erected in 1967 after the Six Day War.

The Hall of Names honors the millions of Jews who were murdered in WWII.

The Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations honors gentiles who saved Jews from the Holocaust.  These heroes did so at great personal risk, and without financial or evangelical motives.  They simply did the right thing.

Trees for Oskar & Emile Schindler

Trees are planted in the garden to honor these heroes.  There are 114 Czechs and 539 Slovaks who have received this honor. 

Gertruda Babilińska's Tree

Years ago, I saw a TV program about Gertruda Babilińska.  She was a Catholic nanny who worked for a Jewish family in Poland.  She made a vow to look after the family's son, Michael, after the rest of the family died.  During the war she told everyone he was her son and hid him in plain sight of the authorities.  The penalty for assisting Jews was death.  After the war she took him to Palestine and raised him Jewish while she remained a devout Catholic.  A tree was planted in her honor in 1963.

Here's a video I found on YouTube about Yad Vashem.

©Yad Vashem