About Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem was established by the Israeli parliament (Knesset) in 1953 as the official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Its name — 'a memorial and a name' — comes from the Book of Isaiah. The campus on the western slope of Mount Herzl in Jerusalem covers nearly 18 hectares and includes the Holocaust History Museum, the Children's Memorial, the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, and the Valley of the Communities.
The Holocaust History Museum, designed by Moshe Safdie and opened in 2005, is a 180-metre triangular prism cutting through the mountain from north to south. The building is a narrative museum — visitors move through ten galleries covering the full history of the Holocaust, from the rise of Nazism to the postwar period and the establishment of the State of Israel. At its far end, the museum opens onto a panoramic terrace overlooking the hills of Jerusalem. Admission is free.
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A small ask before you go
You've just explored one of humanity's greatest collections of beauty. Art has the power to move us, inspire us, and change how we see the world. But millions of people will never see beauty like this — not because the art isn't there, but because they can't see at all.
Preventable blindness, caused by conditions like cataracts and trachoma, affects people of all ages across the world's poorest communities. A small gift — for the cost of a museum ticket — can provide a simple surgery to restore someone's sight and transform their life.