Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem - darkometer rating : 7 - This is the Holocaust memorial site in Israel , namely in Jerusalem , to the west of Mt Herzl: a hilltop 'national cemetery', 'Mount of Remembrance', augmented by several monuments and, in particular, a hyper-modern memorial museum. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: See also Holocaust , and Holocaust tourism , and the entries for the relevant sites in Poland , Hungary , Germany , Austria in particular. The name Yad Vashem (or in a more accurate transliteration Yad vaShem) is taken from an Old Testament verse and literally means 'memorial and a name'. The site was established in 1953. Expanded and updated over the years, the single most significant addition was that of the Holocaust History Museum in 2005. The latter is now the core of the entire site. Like the US Holocaust Museum in Washington , Yad Vashem may be "dislocated" from what it commemorates (i.e. it's not at an authentic site where "it happened" – cf. the concept of dark tourism ), but being the main memorial set up and maintained by the Jewish state Israel, in a way the state of Holocaust survivors, it nevertheless has to rank as one of the world's foremost such institutions. It's a massive place, which is equally strong on information and emotional impact. An absolute must for the dark tourist in Israel . What there is to see: The new centrepiece of the complex, the Holocaust History Museum , is a very modern museum of striking architectural design – a long concrete structure that seems to pierce the mountain.