Prof. Dina Porat

"Auschwitz Camp" on a Black Shirt at the Capitol

A slew of slogans, symbols and other uncommon sights accompanied the violent attack on the Capitol in Washington on January 6: the inscription "Auschwitz Camp" with a skull underneath, a drawing of the Capitol with a red Star of David suffocating it from all sides, the uploading of an image bearing a neo-Nazi code to indicate the takeover of the building. The American Jewish Congress, which monitored the attack and its aftermath on the unregulated "dark" social networks, revealed numerous... Continue reading

Judaism Does Not Counteract Universalism: Quite the Opposite

Throughout the decades since WWII, and years of research and study into the annals of its horrors, fundamental questions have arisen regarding just how Yad Vashem should interpret the Holocaust, its events and its continued consequences for modern-day civilization. Over the past few months, allegations have circulated questioning the very foundation of Yad Vashem's vision and mission – to commemorate, educate, document and research the history of the Holocaust, and ensure its continued... Continue reading

The Anguish of Liberation and the Return to Life: Seventy Years Since the End of WWII

The partisan Abba Kovner used to tell the story of a Jewish woman survivor he met in Vilna, when he arrived at the site of the destroyed ghetto with the Soviet liberating soldiers. For almost a year, the woman and her young daughter had hidden in a small nook, and had come out from their hiding place for the first time after liberation.  As her mother broke down in tears, relating their experiences for the first time, the child asked her, surprised: "Mame, men tor shoyn weinen? – Mommy, is... Continue reading

The End of 1942: A Turning Point in WWII and in the Comprehension of the Final Solution?

This week Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research is hosting an international conference marking 70 years since the end of 1942, believed by many historians to mark a turning point in the course of WWII – and the Shoah. Over four days, concluding today, some 50 guest lecturers from 15 countries gathered at Yad Vashem to discuss key questions regarding this historical period: What did the Allies know and believe by the end of 1942 regarding Nazi policy? How much accurate... Continue reading

Setting the Record Straight

It is a well-documented and undisputable fact that many years before his rise to power, Adolf Hitler was already obsessed by the notion that the Jews constituted an existential danger to the humankind, and thus world Jewry needed to be eliminated at all costs. This ideology began to be formed by Hilter when he was a solider during World War I.  Hitler believed that the war had not only been caused by the Jews, but also that the Jews had stabbed Germany in the back.  Hitler went on to develop... Continue reading

Jews "On the Edge". 1944: Between Annihilation and Liberation

Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 5754 (2014) is marked by the situation of the Jews in 1944 – exactly 70 years ago. The expression "on the edge" is taken from Nathan Alterman's poem Joy of the Poor, which so aptly expresses the feeling which prevailed that year among the Jews of Europe, who were in the throes of a double race on which their very lives depended. On the one hand, cities from east to west, such as Vilna and Minsk, Warsaw and Riga, Belgrade... Continue reading

Defiance and Rebellion during the Holocaust. 70 Years Since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

"It is a necessity… an imperative, due to the historical truth and the legacy that our generation will bequeath to those who will come after us, to speak not only of the loss… but also to reveal, in its fullest scope, the heroic struggle of the people, the community and the individual, during the days of massacre and at the very epicenters of destruction." Thus wrote Yitzhak (Antek) Zuckerman, one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, in the early 1950s. Today his words remain a... Continue reading