29 April 2008
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust remembrance and education center in Jerusalem, has launched two YouTube channels in advance of Holocaust Remembrance Day on May 1. The channels, in English and Arabic, went live today. The English channel contains testimonies from Holocaust survivors, including archival footage, historians’ lectures on key issues related to the Holocaust, footage from visits to Yad Vashem, including those of President George W. Bush in January 2008, and Pope John Paul II in March 2000, as well as human interest stories, such as family reunions. The Arabic channel has testimonies and archival footage about the Holocaust, with Arabic subtitles.
The channels are dynamic, and new videos will be added frequently. Channels in additional languages will be added soon.
“We know that YouTube is one of the most popular websites today. This is equally true in the United States and Europe as it is in Arabic speaking countries. Unfortunately, there is a plethora of misinformation and deliberate lies available on the Internet. The Yad Vashem channel will counter this material, and make reliable information widely available to anyone who seeks to know more about this terrible chapter in human history,” said Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem. “By meeting the survivors through their testimonies, and viewing the foremost experts in the field address difficult questions, viewers will be able to connect on yet another level to this pivotal, and defining event.”
Yad Vashem would like to thank Google and YouTube for their help in launching the new channels.
