Yad Vashem Calendar 2025-2026

2025-2026 Calendar A Living Memory

THE JEWISH FAMILY DURING THE HOLOCAUST: ARTIFACTS FROM THE YAD VASHEM COLLECTION

In a reality of deprivation, persecution and forced separation, the Jewish family unit was greatly undermined under the Nazi regime, and sometimes disintegrated completely. The ties between grandparents, parents and children, between brothers and sisters, and spouses or partners were often severed abruptly, or otherwise frayed gradually, as the Jews’ lives slowly unraveled.

Even in the most difficult circumstances, Jews attempted to preserve a feeling of belonging and of life affirmation via family connections that were not only a source of comfort, but constituted one of the cornerstones of their identity and existence. The wrench of separation engendered anguished feelings of loss not just for the kinsmen themselves, but also for the profound internal anchor they represented.

This calendar showcases items from the Yad Vashem Artifacts Collection that carry within them stories of family ties: gifts and mementoes symbolic of a parting moment or a loving gesture made despite the hardships. In some cases, these objects were the only items remaining from a home or someone loved. They were safeguarded and cherished through the years as testaments to the tribulations endured by the family during the Shoah and memorials to the murdered. All these artifacts were ultimately donated to Yad Vashem for posterity by survivors and their families.