Yad Vashem Memorial Center, Jerusalem, Israel
September 3, 2018
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, together with his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and his Cabinet members, visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center in Jerusalem.
During the visit, Avner Shalev, Chair of the Yad Vashem Directorate, led the President and the delegation for a tour and walking briefing through the entire museum up to the Hall on Names. From there, the President officiated a wreath-laying ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance and visited the Children’s Memorial Hall.
“And I said my daughter is… I wouldn’t say that now. But she is a descendant of a Jew in the Philippines, probably came there to seek the sanctuary. There was a time when we welcomed Jews in the Philippines to provide them a country of refuge. I cannot speak for my daughter how she feels but she is one of those generations that came after,” President Duterte said.
The Chief Executive also signed the guest book at the Children’s Memorial Hall, a place perpetuating the memory of 1.5 million children who perished during the Holocaust.
“Never again. May the world learn the lessons of this horrific and benighted period of human history. May the hearts of peoples around the world remain open. And may the minds of all men and women learn to work together towards providing a safe haven for all who are being executed,” President Duterte wrote as dedication in the guest book.
Living the Jewish tradition of ‘Vehigadeta Lebincha’ (‘And you shall tell your children’), Yad Vashem, or the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel, seeks to preserve the memory of the Holocaust victims and to educate the younger generations of the tragic event through the four pillars of remembrance: commemoration, documentation, research, and education.
Being the pioneer of Holocaust museums all over the world, the Yad Vashem provides visitors with the history of the Holocaust in the Jewish perspective and its universal context and dimension. It utilizes innovative technological platforms to make the ginormous information in its archival collections accessible to the people. According to Director Shalev, the remembrance center carries its crucial role of educating the people of Holocaust in this age of instant communication by ‘harnessing technology and constantly expanding the horizons of communication to perpetuate the dialogue between past, present, and future.’
Anchored on its four pillars of remembrance, the center has its museum complex, Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names, various creative and moving monuments, archives, library, Hall of Names, and collection of Holocaust arts and artifacts. Deeming research as its priority, Yad Vashem established in 1993 its autonomous academic research unit, the International Institute for Holocaust Research. Moreover, Yad Vashem has its publication departments that houses research works, memoirs, documents, albums and diaries concerning the Holocaust. Also, it continues to provide quality Holocaust education to people in Israel and to the global audience through its International School for Holocaust Studies (ISHS) established in 1993.
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