Lisa Krebs
Representations of the Haredi Communities in Holocaust Museums in Israel
2016 | Full access
Museums display their materials and subjects with unique perspectives, often influenced by the museum’s vision. Holocaust Museums in Israel are no exception, and whilst the museums all explore the topic of Holocaust, they each present a different narrative. In turn, groups from different parts of society that endured the Holocaust will have had different experiences. This study explores four different Holocaust museums in Israel (Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum, Yad Vashem, Testimony House (Beit Edut), and Chamber of the Holocaust (Martef haShoah) and how they display and exhibit the experience of the Haredi communities during the Holocaust. This examination will delve into the various ways that museums utilize artifacts, photographs, and the written narrative, and to what extent these represent Haredi communities. The thesis first introduces the theoretical underpinning of the study, including definitions of Haredim and discussion of museums and Holocaust museums in particular. The first, second, and third chapters then explore how artifacts, photographs, and written narrative are used to represent the Haredi communities in these museums’ displays, respectively. The thesis shows that mission statements of museums and the communities that commissioned and established them heavily influence the exhibitions, which in turn influences the way and extent that Haredi communities are discussed and displayed.
Supervisors:
Prof. Maoz Azaryahu
Dr. Shosh Rotem