New Conservation Facility for Israel's Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem

In a significant development, Israel's national Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, inaugurated a new conservation facility in Jerusalem aimed at safeguarding and preserving its extensive collection of over 45,000 artifacts and artworks. The David and Fela Shapell Family Collections Center, situated at the museum, will not only house these treasures but also provide storage for the vast archives comprising 225 million pages of documents and half a million photographs. Yad Vashem's chairman, Dani Dayan, emphasized the importance of maintaining these materials in optimal conditions to ensure their eternal preservation. The newly opened facility boasts cutting-edge conservation labs equipped to address challenging restoration tasks, such as salvaging a deteriorated film canister brought by a family fleeing Austria in 1939. Despite the film's degraded state, experts managed to recover frames depicting pre-World War II Europe, including poignant scenes of a couple captured in a park. Orit Feldberg, granddaughter of the couple featured in the film, expressed astonishment at the restoration, highlighting the significance of these images in preserving her family's memory and unique story. Dayan underscored Yad Vashem's status as the world's largest repository of Holocaust-related materials, emphasizing the institution's commitment to safeguarding these invaluable treasures for future generations. The new conservation facility, with its underground storage spanning five floors, marks a crucial step in ensuring the long-term preservation and accessibility of the museum's extensive collections. Through advanced technologies and meticulous care, experts aim to conserve and showcase these artifacts, shedding light on the harrowing history of the Holocaust and honoring the memories of its victims.