In 1952, the first Holocaust museum worldwide was opened in a kibbutz founded by former Jewish resistance fighters.
Six years after the beginning of the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, in April 1949, Holocaust survivors founded the Kibbutz Lohamei Haghetaot (English: Ghetto Fighters' Kibbutz). It is located close to the city of Akko in Western Galilee - an area, that was taken by Israeli forces shortly before the state was founded in 1948. Many of the kibbutz founders had fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, including Yitzhak Zuckerman, former deputy commander of the insurgents. Others had been partisans. When the kibbutz was established, the foundation stone for the Ghetto Fighters' House (Hebrew: Beit Lohamei Haghetaot) was also laid. It was the first ever museum in honour of victims of the Holocaust.
The museum serves the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, but is also dedicated to ghetto fighters and Jewish resistance fighters in particular.
The memorial has been extended over the years and now comprises several parts. At first, in 1952, the main museum on the Holocaust and Jewish resistance was opened. It is named after Itzhak Katzenelson, a poet who was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944 and had taken part in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The museum building was built during the 1950s overlooking an old Roman amphitheatre; its modern architecture later served as a model for the construction of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. The exhibition deals with themes such as: Jewish life in Europe – especially Eastern Europe – before the Second World War, the history of the Holocaust, and various forms of Jewish resistance. It thoroughly deals with the history of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The museum also displays an art collection of works both from the time of persecution and those dealing with the topic in the postwar period. On the upper floor is an exhibition about the trial against Adolf Eichmann, which began in 1961; one of the artefacts on display is the glass box in which the defendant sat in court.
In 1995, the Yad LaYeled Children's Museum was opened, which is targeted at visitors aged 10 to 14. The aim is to present the fates of the approximately 1.5 million murdered Jewish children with the help of individual testimonies. The Center for Humanistic Education was also founded in 1995. It organises seminars and conferences - the Ghetto Fighters' House sees itself primarily as an educational site and a meeting place.
In 1995, the Yad LaYeled Children's Museum was opened, which is targeted at visitors aged 10 to 14. The aim is to present the fates of the approximately 1.5 million murdered Jewish children with the help of individual testimonies. The Center for Humanistic Education was also founded in 1995. It organises seminars and conferences - the Ghetto Fighters' House sees itself primarily as an educational site and a meeting place.
- Name
- Beit Lochamej HaGeta'ot
- Address
-
Kibbutz Lohamei Haghetaot
25220 Lohamei Haghetaot - Phone
- +972 (0)4 995 8080
- Fax
- +972 (0)4 995 8007
- Web
- http://www.gfh.org.il/
- info@gfh.org.il
- Open
- Sunday to Thursday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. - Possibilities
- Museum, library, archive, children's museum, conferences, seminars, educational work with children and youths