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Sun-Thurs: 08:30-17:00
Fridays and holiday eves: 08:30-14:00
Saturday and Jewish holidays – Closed

Yad Vashem is open to the general public, free of charge. All visits to Yad Vashem must be reserved in advance.

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  3. Holocaust Remembrance Day Through the Years
  4. Torchlighters
  5. Mordechai (Motke) Zeidel

Mordechai (Motke) Zeidel

Mordechai (Motke) Zeidel lit one of six torches at the State Opening Ceremony of Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem in 2005.

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Mordechai (Motke) Zeidel

Mordechai (Motke) Zeidel

Holocaust survivor and partisan Mordechai (Motke) Zeidel describes his experiences

Born in 1925, in Swenciany, near Vilna (then Poland). From 1941, Mordechai worked as a slave laborer until his escape to the Vilna ghetto. After the ghetto was liquidated, he was caught by the Gestapo and taken to Ponary, where he worked, in shackles, in the pits containing the victims’ corpses. There he also witnessed the mass murder of friends and family from Vilna and surrounding areas. Following a well-organized escape, he joined the partisans, taking part in the liberation of Vilna. Mordechai arrived undetected in Israel in 1945, and fought in the War of Independence. He has 3 children and 6 grandchildren.

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