Throughout this coming year, the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of Yad Vashem will be commemorated with public lectures, ceremonies and celebrations. Amid all of the loud hoopla and accolades, however, a quiet crescendo of criticism of Yad Vashem has been appearing in the Jewish media for their portrayal of Orthodox martyrs and survivors of the Shoah, which one high ranking member of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany recently described to this writer as, “tantamount to Holocaust denial.
Yad Vashem has always been considered the gold standard by which all other Shoah museums have been measured. And the New Wing, which opened its doors in 2005, is a state-of-the-art, multi-media museum which has been visited by literally millions of foreign tourists and Israeli citizens. What could possibly be inaccurate in their presentation of Shoah history?
According to articles that have appeared in both American and Israeli magazines and newspapers, the distortions at the New Wing center on three major areas. Firstly, venerated Orthodox leaders are disparaged. One such heroic figure is Rabbi Michoel Dov Weissmandl, Z”L, in whose honor a New York City Councilman has recently proposed renaming a street in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn.
How does Yad Vashem denigrate Rabbi Weissmandl? The following text, for example, appears alongside his photo in the museum:
In the course of negotiations over the summer of 1942, [Rabbi Weissmandl’s Working] Group paid ransom money to Dieter Wisliceny, Eichman’s delegate in Slovakia. For various considerations, the deportations were halted in the autumn of 1942 but the Working Group believed this was a result of their bribes.
This wording implies that Rabbi Weissmandl was duped by the Nazis. One needs to look no further than Wikipedia, however, to find this.
Thanks to the efforts of [Rabbi Weissmandl’s] ‘Working Group,’ which bribed German and Slovakian officials, the mass deportation of Slovakian Jews was delayed for two years from 1942 – 1944.
A second bone of contention is the inadequate representation of Orthodox survivors amongst the 50 – 60 videotaped testimonies which are played throughout the New Wing. As Jonathan Rosenblum wrote in The Jerusalem Post (8/1/06):
According to Dr. Michael Berenbaum, former director of the research institute attached to the U.S. Shoah Museum, 50%-70% of those murdered by the Nazis, ‘were traditionally religious Jews.’
Nevertheless, of the 50 or 60 eyewitness accounts of the Shoah in the New Wing when it first opened, not a single testimony from a Haredi survivor was included. And today, nine years later, only one has been added. The exact percentage of Orthodox survivors is certainly open to debate. Even Yad Vashem would concede, however, that Orthodox Jews represented far more than two percent of the survivors. Why, then, did Yad Vashem choose to so drastically limit the number of Orthodox survivor testimonies in the New Wing?
Finally, the entire issue of spiritual heroism during the Shoah is relegated to mere footnote status. The countless examples of Jews in the ghettos and concentration camps who risked their lives to study Torah and observe mitzvos are almost completely ignored. No, not all martyrs were Orthodox. But many were. And to include only token references to the myriad acts of mesiras nefesh (self sacrifice) and adherence to Yiddishkeit is to omit large chapters of the Shoah narrative. Why would Yad Vashem choose to leave out such an integral part of the historical record of the Shoah which is so meaningful and important to a large swath of the Jewish people?
In order to seek answers to these and other questions, this writer met with a high level member of the administrative staff of Yad Vashem in August, ’13. At that hour-long meeting, which was conducted off-the-record at the request of Yad Vashem, all the issues outlined above were presented. The Yad Vashem administrator said that action could not be expected before the High Holidays in September. “After the chagim,” however, a substantive response was promised. Now, months later, the silence from Yad Vashem invites speculation.
Does Yad Vashem feel the criticism will die down and go away if it is simply ignored? Do they believe by opening their archives to Orthodox scholars and training Orthodox tour guides they are entitled to immunity from any Orthodox criticism of the New Wing? Or, do they feel that correcting these historical distortions will compromise some larger agenda to support the secular side of the current clash between the religious and secular factions of Israeli society?
The martyrs and most of the survivors of the Shoah, many of whom were Orthodox, are no longer with us. But their descendents and the community they left behind are very much alive and flourishing. While we cannot save a single life that was lost in the Shoah, we can and must prod Yad Vashem to correct the distortions that dishonor the memory of religious victims and survivors because they can no longer speak for themselves.
Written by Meir Wikler
NOTE: The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of YWN.
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29 Responses
Yad Vashem was founded as, always has been, and remains a rabidly secular institution that whitewashes history to its skewed POV, which means a proto-Zionistic historical revisionism that covers up the many crimes the Zionists committed in the holocaust including collaborating with the Nazis. It further means they denigrate any Orthodox heroes of the holocaust and minimize all Orthodox victimhood in the holocaust.
According to Dr. Michael Berenbaum, former director of the research institute attached to the U.S. Shoah Museum, 50%-70% of those murdered by the Nazis, ‘were traditionally religious Jews.’
Really seems not possible and if true seems to put a dent in the philosophy Torah Protects
Wikipedia is not reliable, as everybody knows. R’ Weissmandel’s efforts were , unfortunately, mostly in vain. The deportations were TEMPORARILY halted for other reasons , not known to R’ Weissmandel. It should also be pointed out that the books “written” by him were posthumously edited and published by some of his family and rabidly anti-Zionist followers.We’ll never know which words are his or tampered and falsified by the former.
It has since come to light that the Rabbi blamed people he shouldn’t have because he didn’t know the full story.
Read: Jews for Sale? by Bauer, as an example.
This has been an annual artice by Dr. Wikler, most of his complaints or observations have been rectified and corrected.
Those interested in visiting Yad Vashem and you should can hook up with frum museum guides and there are many. Your experience will be enlightening.
BTW, when Yad Vshem was established the Torah kehilla was still in deep mourning, uninterested and complete ignored any and all requests for information, photographs, memorabilia, and/or letters.
Sometimes late-day complaints are unfounded when you were a missing player in the early days.
#1.. Your false accusations have long ago been discredited.Your claim of collaboration comes from liars who themselves were saved by Zionists.You should be ashamed of what you write, but of course you won’t be. You actually believe this rubbish.
#2 is kefira
It’s interesting that Meir Wikler used a reference to wikipedia in the manner that he did, I find wikipedia to be one of the very most biased sources in the world and here he’s using it to balance the story in the other direction. It’s very fishy’.
…though not at all surprising given the current Holocaust has had far more victims than during WWII.
Yad Vashem obviously believes the Holocaust was brought on because of the sins of the non-religious. Frum people were swept in in G-d’s punishing of Frayah Jews. The murder of Frum Jews was incidental to the Holocaust.
Rabbi Weissmandel is one of the greatest heroes in the holocaust rescue movement. He literally single-handedly saved countless Jews from almost certain death at the hands of the Nazis. He wrote a first-hand account of his wartime activities that is a must read for any historian or persons interested in a full accounting of the holocaust. His activities were stymied by the Zionists who felt a cow was worth more than a Jew and prevented countless Jews from being saved and hindered rescue efforts.
To number 2. What an ignorant comment. We know that when hkb”h makes A gezeira everyone is included, including true torah Jews. It was like that in the holocost like that in Spain and like that in churban habayis. Please keep your apikorsis to other unsavory non orthodox sites.
@Lo Soguru “..as everybody knows” from where??
Min Hamietzar was not edited by his family. Why don’t you contact his family if you have questions.
Why would it change facts if they are anti-Zionist??
#2, you were just kofer in a pasuk in parashas vayera. do your family a favor, and make the wine you serve at the seder is mevushal.
I visted Yad Vashem and said never again, the message is clear that after the Holocaust we were SAVED and the answer to all the problems will be the secular state of Israel.
The halt in Slovakian deportations could have been due to many reasons; intervention of the Papal Nuncia of Bratislava, Dieter Wiscliceny’s removal to Greece where he continued to deport Jews and later in Budapest with Eichman . Even granted that these were halted to to Rabbi Weissmandel, though questionable, is there any other reliable piece of evidence to suggest that he saved anybody? My question is just a search for truth and not in any way a denigration .
I am surprised why YWN did not actually assess the Haredi positions on Yad Vashem itself. There has been bridging effort with various segments of the Haredi community and Yad Vashem. They will be surprised and find the answers. This is not a balanced article.
#1-what you write has no premise, coincidence with reality.
Moderators Note: Perhaps you failed to see the disclaimer at the end of this article. This has nothing to do with YWN. You are correct that YWN has not actually assessed this.
#15: #1 is 100% correct.
according to a tape I heard many years ago from Avidor Miller oh”s, it was just this group that caused the holocaust.
the new book that was put together from his manuscripts goes into great detail on how and why and who else.
#1- Perhaps you can provide evidence that Zionists collaborated with the Nazis?
#1,#16, while I definitely see your point, the blame should be placed on the original source of the problem.
#18: Among many pieces of evidence, is Zionist Rudolf Kastner, who was Adolf Eichmann’s right-hand man in Hungary, sold Hungarian Jewry — 600,000 Hungarian Jews, to the Nazis so he could have a train of a couple hundred mostly of his family and zionist friends (with a handful or rabbonim). After the war, Zionist Kastner testified in Nuremburg on behalf of the Nazis to save his Nazi friends from execution.
Let’s get something straight, Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source because ANYONE can change ANYTHING on that site.
Meir Wikler wrote this article several years ago and it was full of inaccuracies. I don’t understand why it is being reprinted. Let’s examine:
1- Rabbi Weismandel was duped by the Nazis. The Nazis had every intention of murdering every Jew. This does not detract from Rabbi Weismandels greatness and leadership in the slightest.
2- Deportation of Slovakian Jewry to Auschwitz began in January 1942. The first Jews Murdered in Auschwitz were the Slovakian Jews. By 1944 most of Slovakian Jewry was already murdered.
3- The comment “A second bone of contention is the inadequate representation of Orthodox survivors amongst the 50 – 60 videotaped testimonies which are played throughout the New Wing.” This is not true- Having spent two full days going through every exhibit at Yad Vashem a fair number of videotaped testimonies are from Orthodox Jews. Among the videos are testimonies by non-jews.
4- The war against the Jews called for total annihilation. There were no separate gas chambers for frum and non-frum, the Nazis didn’t distinguish between the Jews they murdered and neither should we. They all died Al Kiddush Hashem
5- “According to Dr. Michael Berenbaum, former director of the research institute attached to the U.S. Shoah Museum, 50%-70% of those murdered by the Nazis, ‘were traditionally religious Jews.” – This is incorrect – Dr Berenbaum could not have made such a statement. By the 1930’s close to 2/3 of European Jewry did not observe Shabbos. Dr Berenbaum in using the word “traditionally religious” he means to say that they identified themselves as Jews and went to temple on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
6- “Finally, the entire issue of spiritual heroism during the Shoah is relegated to mere footnote status. The countless examples of Jews in the ghettos and concentration camps who risked their lives to study Torah and observe mitzvos are almost completely ignored.” Not True There is an entire exhibit dedicated to spiritual resistance. The display includes clandestine photos of Jews who are learning. Tefilos written on flour sacks, stories on how matzos were baked in the ghettos.
7- I am sure that a good number of people commenting on this story have never been to Yad Vashem.
#20- The Kastner case was ONE instance of a Zionist selling out Jews. Can you cite one other of the “many pieces of evidence”?
And while you’re at it, would you kindly give an example of my “rabid anti-Torah r’l secularist points of views that you constantly express and harp on” that you claimed while commenting on another story?
You’re going to look very stupid when you cannot.
#20… YAWN..YAWN.. Another repeated piece of revisionism.Kastner was cleared, it’s not worth getting into the debate here with short posts. Please read Kasztner’s Train, and other books who are written by serious scholars, not by a hollywood fictional playwright called Ben Hecht.
They did not “forget”. Frum jews are purposefully omitted from Yad Vashem – if you visit it, you see a very blatant pattern. No mention of any of the Mesirus Nefesh by frum yidden to help others and keep mitzvos.
#23 Yanky, #20 chachom is 100% correct. Besides Kastner’s treachery, another example is the zionists having had Joel Brand arrested, to impede him while he was trying to rescue European Jews from the Nazis.
Kastner was not “cleared”, though Zionists and their supporters do try to whitewash it as much as they can.
But there is plenty more. If you look up the (Zionist) AICE Jewish Virtual Library under Henry Montor, you will get just a small sampling of why Zionists have good reason to cover up their actions and lack thereof during WW II.
Regardless, the point remains that Zionism is shmad and that therefore Zionism’s sole interest in the Holocaust is to falsely and bizarrely attempt to justify the State’s putative role as “protector of Jews”.
#24- Elie Weisel (who knows a lot about this subject) has stated that, “He was wrong and they were wrong”. “They” being those who assassinated Kastner.
#25 Have you ever been to Yad Vashem?