Yad Vashem is the heart and soul of Jewish History
One of the myths about Yad Vashem is that it is fully funded by the Israeli government. The truth is that the government provides Yad Vashem with about a quarter of their operating budget, and we are only able to do the vast majority of our activities due to the help of our friends and partners worldwide.
Leave a Legacy to Yad Vashem
By leaving a bequest to Yad Vashem you will not only perpetuate the commemoration of this dark period in our history, but you will also enhance education among Israelis, Jews and non-Jews:
- Yad Vashem greatly strengthens the motivation of our soldiers, all of whom have to visit us during their initial service, and to whom we offer courses up to and including the rank of major general
- Yad Vashem strengthens Jewish identity among youth who come here, be it in high school groups, Birthright or March of the Living
- Yad Vashem provides world leaders with an education in the ramifications of applied genocide, and we believe it has promoted the idea of intervention to avoid further war crimes and genocides. To quote Nicholas Sarkozy, “I was changed at Yad Vashem”. During the recent televised US Presidential Debates, President Barack Obama said “I went to Yad Vashem to remind myself of the nature of evil”.
For the one million people who visit our museum annually, the 300,000 who attend our International School of Holocaust Studies each year and the 12 million people from 232 countries who visited our website last year, Yad Vashem provides a lesson in the consequences of dehumanization, with all the associated evils resulting from hatred and divisiveness as opposed to our core values of tolerance and mutual understanding.
Your legacy to Yad Vashem, however large or small, will help fight discrimination, bigotry, indifference and hatred, all of which contribute to the continued existence of atrocities in our time.
To discuss ways to leave a lasting legacy to Yad Vashem, please contact;
Searle Brajtman
Director of the English Language Desk International Relations Division
Yad Vashem
Israel Landline: +972-2-644-3742
Israel Mobile: +972-54-565-7326
Email: searle.brajtman@yadvashem.org.il