Martin Schoeller, left, with Yad Vashem Chair Avner Shalev have embarked on a commemorative project to mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. As Holocaust survivors continue to age, this may be one of the last opportunities to record their images. Courtesy/YV
Yad Vashem News:
Throughout 2020, the world will be marking the 75th anniversary to the end of World War II. Starting Jan. 27, 2020, which is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, perhaps one of the most iconic symbols of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center will be involved with several different events taking place on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, internationally as well as virtually online.
World Holocaust Forum 2020: World leaders to gather at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem to fight antisemitism
As the world prepares to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Yad Vashem is set to host some of the most prominent world leaders and heads of state from North America, Europe and Australia at the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, taking place Jan. 23, 2020, at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
The event, titled “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism,” is being organized by the World Holocaust Forum Foundation, in cooperation with Yad Vashem, under the auspices of the President of the State of Israel, H.E. Mr. Reuven Rivlin.
President of Russia H.E. Mr. Vladimir Putin, President of France H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of Germany H.E. Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier and President of Italy H.E. Mr. Sergio Mattarella, leaders from the U.S. and U.K. are included in the some 35 world leaders who have thus far confirmed their attendance at this historic event.
The World Holocaust Forum is slated to take place against the background of a rise in hateful and violent expressions of antisemitism. This alarming situation makes this event more crucial and relevant than ever, and strengthens the importance of efforts to educate about the dangers of antisemitism, racism and xenophobia, and foster Holocaust commemoration and research worldwide.
Survivors: Faces of Life after the Holocaust
Yad Vashem and award-winning portrait photographer Martin Schoeller have joined together to create a meaningful commemorative project portraying 75 Holocaust survivors from Israel. The project includes a photo book containing 75 portraits and the survivors’ messages to the next generations, and includes forwards by Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev and former President of Germany Joachim Gauck. In addition, a photography exhibition will open Jan. 21, 2020 in Germany in the presence of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This impactful exhibition is being offered for display in museums throughout the World.
I-Remember Wall
Facebook International is joining forces with Yad Vashem to promote the IRemember Wall on its platform for the first time in six languages.
Yad Vashem will upload the IRemember Wall, a unique online commemorative project in six languages that provides people all over the world with an opportunity to engage in interactive and dynamic commemoration of victims of the Holocaust. Each participant will be randomly linked to the name of one of the more than 4,800,000 Jewish men, women and children found in Yad Vashem’s Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names. They also will have the option of sharing the individual they’ve been paired with via Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.