14 September 2003
Tomorrow, (Monday, September 15, 2003) a number of ceremonies will be held to mark the occasion
11:00 a.m. - Ceremony marking the issuance of commemorative stamps
In honor of Yad Vashem’s jubilee year, the Israel Philatelic Service is issuing two new commemorative stamps at an official ceremony to held at the Knesset in the presence of Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin MK, Yad Vashem Directorate member Dov Shilansky, and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, Prof. Szewach Weiss.
3:00 p.m. - Ceremony marking the receipt of Ringelblum box
Yad Vashem will receive the original box in which historian, Dr. Emmanuel Ringelblum hid the underground archive, code named Oneg Shabbat which documented daily life in the Warsaw ghetto. The box - donated to Yad Vashem by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, (the Zeich) in honor of its jubilee year - will be displayed in Yad Vashem’s new Holocaust History Museum, slated to open in late 2004.
The ceremony will take place at Janusz Korczak Square in the presence of Prof. Felix Teich, Director of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute, Marian Turski, Chairman of the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute and Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate. During the ceremony, Prof. Israel Gutman, Academic Advisor to Yad Vashem and participants in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising will speak.
6:00 p.m. - Unveiling ceremony for the Benefactors’ Wall
In tribute to the major past and present benefactors of Yad Vashem, their names have been engraved on a wall in Yad Vashem’s Entrance Plaza. Their efforts have furthered Yad Vashem’s activities toward Holocaust commemoration and remembrance and have helped prepare Yad Vashem for perpetuating the memory of the Holocaust to future generations. Participating in the ceremony are Leader of the Opposition, Shimon Peres MK, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, Avner Shalev, and from the donors Joseph Wilf, Campaign Chairman of “Yad Vashem 2001” from the US, architect David Azrieli from Israel and Cheryl Lifshitz, Young Leadership delegate, American Society for Yad Vashem.
8:00 p.m. - Reception for International Friends Delegations
A reception for delegations from 26 countries that came to participate in Yad Vashem’s jubilee events will take place in the Valley of the Communities. Participants in the reception include: Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Tzipi Livni, Mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, Abraham Hirchson MK, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, Prof. Szewach Weiss, Chairman of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel Noah Flug, and representatives of the delegations.
