► New Exhibition:
As Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary, its population of Holocaust survivors numbers some 250,000, about half those who arrived here since the establishment of the State. Their dramatic story in this land—a story not yet completely told—is the subject of a new exhibition opening in Yad Vashem’s Exhibitions Pavilion on 28 April 2008.

Opening of Exhibition
Gallery Talk (Dates)

My Homeland
Holocaust Survivors in Israel
By Prof. Hanna Yablonka

In the history of immigration, there has been no comparable story to that of the survivors who came to live in Israel. Rarely, if at all, has a group of immigrants made so profound an impact on a society, and so fully participated in charting its course.

At the end of WWII, most survivors chose to focus their efforts on rebuilding their lives, and chose to do so in the Land of Israel, the land they called home. The word “chose” is crucial: an alternative was available. For some it was too late. They did not manage to rehabilitate their lives. But most survivors found a core of inner strength that is hard for us to comprehend. Their collective story is one of personal and human victory.

They have left their mark in every field: in building new towns, the army, industry, the economy, law and culture. Painters and graphic artists, poets and writers, athletes and dancers, academics and cultural icons—many were perceived by the public as native-born Israelis. Almost from the start, their influence went beyond the personal realm and impacted daily lives of all Israelis.

From the day they set foot in the country, the survivors became active in two different realms: the Israeli realm and that of Holocaust remembrance, and consequently their legacy as survivors. They focused on an unambiguous and intensive fostering of their Israeli identity—striving to be among those who shaped Israeli culture—while also working to preserve the memory of the Holocaust through commemoration and documentation. After the Eichmann trial, the two realms merged into one, as Israeli society as a whole brought the survivors into its fold and made Holocaust remembrance a central component of its national identity.

"My Homeland: Holocaust Survivors in Israel" was curated by Deputy Director of Yad Vashem’s Museums Division, Yehudit Shendar.

The exhibition was made possible by the generous support of: The Adelson Family Charitable Foundation, Dr. André and Carolyne Bollag (Switzerland), The family of Giuseppe and Marisa Diporto (Rome-Jerusalem), Friends of Yad Vashem in Switzerland, Ivonne and Samuel Geller (Mexico), Miriam Gertler (Germany), Heide Wolf Kaufmann (Spain), Dra. Olinda M. de Kositanovsky (Paraguay), The National Fund of The Republic of Austria For Victims of National Socialism, The Phillips and Rubens Charitable Trust (UK), Primedia Ltd. (South Africa), Ruta and Felix Zandman (USA) and in memory of Pearl, Helka and Dorka Jablonka, who perished in the Warsaw ghetto on 25 April 1943.

The author is the Historical Consultant to the Exhibition.