Stage Image Alternative Text

News

Yad Vashem open new memorial centre in Jerusalem

On the initiative of the German Friends of Yad Vashem, Borussia Dortmund, Mercedes-Benz, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Bank and Volkswagen have each contributed one million euros to the expansion of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Centre in Israel. The new memorial centre, which has been planned since 2019 under the name "House of Collections", was opened in Jerusalem on Monday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog was present, as were representatives of the German economy and friends and supporters of Yad Vashem from all over the world, when the memorial centre was inaugurated under the name "Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus". Borussia Dortmund's anti-discrimination officer Daniel Lörcher was on site at Yad Vashem.

The heart of the campus is the "Shapell Family Collections Center", which houses Yad Vashem's collection of more than 227 million pages of archive documents, over half a million photographs, tens of thousands of survivors' testimonies, artefacts and works of art as well as around 2.8 million memorial sheets on an area of around 6,000 square metres. The objects in the Yad Vashem collection come from all over Europe and North Africa. They range from personal items to works of art and everyday objects used in the camps and hiding places.

The construction of the campus was financed by the support of many Friends of Yad Vashem around the world. This includes the Friends of Yad Vashem, whose five major German corporate members Borussia Dortmund, Deutsche Bahn, Deutsche Bank, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group each donated one million euros to the project.

"Here, every single object is treated with the utmost respect and finds a permanent home so that its stories - the stories of resistance, fear and the unbroken spirit of individuals, families and communities who faced the horrors of the Holocaust - remain accessible for future generations," said Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan. "With this opening, Yad Vashem emphasises its commitment to preserving the memory of the Holocaust. The generous contributions of the many donors, including the five prominent German companies, not only contribute to the protection of these artefacts, but also underline their importance in communicating history to future generations."

Hans-Joachim Watzke, CEO of Borussia Dortmund, explains: "I am very moved by the opening of the Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus after five years of planning and construction. Almost 80 years after the end of the Holocaust, it is an important task to preserve the memory of what happened. The 'Moshal Shoah Legacy Campus' is a very important place for this because it gives us the opportunity to learn about individual biographies and objects, making it clear that six million people with their own ideas, dreams and life plans were murdered."

Daniel Lörcher, BVB's anti-discrimination officer, says: "It was an impressive opening ceremony, in which the objects and the most diverse individual stories took centre stage. Every single object tells a special story, which is why it is so great that Yad Vashem now has this opportunity to preserve them and make more parts of history accessible."

Inline Image

More News