A new exhibition displaying the personal items of children murdered in the Holocaust opened Sunday at the Supreme Court. The installation, named "Yellow Patch," serves as a heartbreaking memorial to the young lives tragically cut short during the Nazi genocide.
The exhibits on display were retained from the Theresienstadt Ghetto in former Czechoslovakia. Established by Nazis in 1941, Theresienstadt held prisoners temporarily before they were deported to death camps in the east. In a cynical propaganda effort, the Nazis attempted for a time to present Theresienstadt as a "model ghetto", allowing inmates some privileges like education and cultural activities.
This allowed children interned in the ghetto to create artwork, write letters, and hold onto personal mementos before the vast majority were eventually sent to be killed at camps like Auschwitz. Only a few survived the Holocaust.
The installation features drawings, journals, handwritten notes and cards, games, and other belongings. Some items were found after Theresienstadt's liberation in 1945, while others were donated by survivors, some of whom later immigrated to Israel. These items now serve as one of the few remaining testaments to the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust.
"While only a small number of these children's personal effects remain, they are invaluable witnesses to the systematic genocide perpetrated by the Nazis," Supreme Court President Esther Hayut said. "This exhibit ensures we can confront anew the unconscionable tragedy of the Holocaust."
The installation will be on public display at the Supreme Court through August 2024.
