Yad Vashem Calendar 2026-2027

Human Networks During the Holocaust - Photographs from the Yad Vashem Photo Archive

Throughout the generations, Jewish life has existed and thrived within an intricate tapestry of human networks. Individuals, families, and communities created networks through religious institutions, educational and welfare systems, youth movements, women's organizations, professional guilds, political movements and parties, and these human networks provided Jews with identity, affiliation, support, information, and resources, and shaped individual and community life.

The importance of these networks is highlighted when placed in the context of the Nazi regime's attempt to dismantle the infrastructure of Jewish society, through discriminatory legislation, expropriation, social isolation, confinement in ghettos, deportations, forced labor, and incarceration in camps. Despite these attempts, many Jewish networks did not cease to exist, but adapted to the new reality, while others —Jewish, non-Jewish, or a combination of the two -  were created in response to the brutal and unpredictable situation in which the Jews found themselves. Examining these networks enables us to view the Holocaust from a wider perspective, and to explore not just the way people abandoned human ties but also how they safeguarded or reconfigured them in these most extreme of circumstances.

This year's calendar showcases photographs from the Yad Vashem Photo Archive that document these human networks in action during and after the Holocaust, and reflect the resilience of the human spirit in choosing to preserve integrity and humanity. Each photograph is a window into a world where, despite the loneliness, fear and loss, individuals continued to seek connection, to lean on one another, and to lend a hand to those in need; a world in which human networks were a source of strength, consolation, and hope.