From Holocaust to Revival Museum
Institute for Holocaust Education

The Yad Mordechai From Holocaust to Revival Museum deals with the sequence of events experienced by the Jewish People in the Diaspora and in Eretz Israel during the first half of the twentieth century. The museum opened its doors in May 1968.
The building was planned by architect Arieh Sharon and his son Eldar. In recognition of the museum’s impressive and original planning, the architects were awarded a prestigious prize by the International Association of Engineering and Architecture. The museum’s ideological design and the planning of the exhibits was undertaken by a team headed by Holocaust survivor, partisan, poet, and thinker Aba Kovner.
The museum’s uniqueness lies in its engagement of both the past and the present. The exhibits familiarize visitors with the events of the recent past, while the green and vibrant kibbutz landscape – symbolizing joie de vivre, creation, and continuity – remains in view just outside the window.
The choice to commemorate the events of the Holocaust and the revival at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai is no coincidence. The kibbutz was named after Mordechai Anielewicz, the commander of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB) during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Many of the kibbutz’s founders were members of the Hashomer Hatzair movement in Poland and, in practice, became symbols of heroism when they repulsed the Egyptian invaders during Israel’s War of Independence.
Today, the museum is in a continuous process of upgrading and renewing its exhibits and adapting its methods and educational subject matter to the spirit of the times and the needs of visitors. In this way, it continues to be updated in accordance with new research and advanced means of Heritage interpretation.