The "Yizkor" Hall
The holdings of Jewish culture that were lost in the Holocaust
In this hall the visitor encounters the holdings of Jewish culture that were lost in the Holocaust, as they are expressed in their existing forms: as personal papers, official documents, photographs, objects, religious ritual articles, and artworks. In their dim cases which the visitor’s touch illuminates, the Archives of the Ghetto Fighters’ House come to light.
The material legacy of a nation usually remains stored away in its archives, inaccessible to the general public. By opening its Archives and Art Collection for viewing in this specially-constructed hall, the Ghetto Fighters' House enables you, the visitor, to be your own curator: choosing items from the fields of remembrance.
The glass walls form the rear panel of the drawers and shelves that contain the artifacts and artworks. Touching the blue lighted line on any wall will illuminate the items, and advanced digital technology allows the visitor to display the explanatory text for each one.
The installation on the eastern wall offers a constantly rising array of letters that join, and then separate from, the names of communities from which Jews were taken to their deaths.
At the southern entrance –touch screens provide an overlapping collage of figures from the Archives, whose stories emerge from the landscape of memory.
The design of this quiet, inward-looking hall enables the visitor a personal experience and opportunity for silent dialogue with the topics of remembrance.