Jerusalem: Tucked away on the slope of Mount Zion lies a little-known memorial site for Jewish victims of the Holocaust. A cluster of tiny, dark caverns that modestly commemorates one of the greatest horrors of modern times. We visit the memorial on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 2019.
A woman looks at an exhibit during a visit to "The Chamber of the Holocaust", a little-known memorial site for Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust, in Jerusalem's Mount Zion (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
The Chamber of the Holocaust, a six-room cellar whose walls are covered with gravestones, sits beside a tomb that some believe to be the burial place of the biblical King David and next to the site where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus held the Last Supper.
The memorial was established in 1949, four years after the end of World War Two and a year after Israel was founded, as Holocaust survivors who came as refugees to the country sought a place to mourn their families.
Blood-stained Torah scrolls, one of the artefacts brought from Europe by Holocaust survivors, is seen on display at "The Chamber of the Holocaust", a little-known memorial site for Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust, in Jerusalem's Mount Zion (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
"There was no cemetery, no grave. Their families had literally gone up in smoke," said Aharon Seiden, the chamber's curator. "The Chamber of the Holocaust was built as a symbolic cemetery, as a place for Holocaust survivors to come and cry and mourn for their families."
Ashes of victims were interred there and the hundreds of gravestones that cover the walls commemorate the Jewish villages and towns whose communities were wiped out by the Nazis.
A woman looks at a sculpture by Sam Philipe commemorating children killed in the Holocaust, near the entrance to 'The Chamber of the Holocaust', a little-known memorial site for Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust, in Jerusalem's Mount Zion (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
In stark contrast to Israel's official Holocaust memorial - the massive Yad Vashem complex, the Holocaust Chamber is funded largely by private donations and is far less known to Israelis and tourists alike.
It displays artifacts brought from Europe by survivors such as scorchedTorah scrolls, a jacket, and drum the Nazis had Jewish prisoners make out of Torah parchments and the striped prisoner uniforms worn in concentration camps.
A jacket the Nazis had Jewish prisoners make out of Torah parchments is seen on display at "The Chamber of the Holocaust", a little-known memorial site for Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust, in Jerusalem's Mount Zion (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
"We were just walking around and we found this museum," said Viera Barlikova, a 27-year-old tourist who was traveling in the Holy Land with her brother. "We come from Slovakia and that dark part of history also touched us."
Ahron Seiden, curator of "The Chamber of the Holocaust", a little-known memorial site for Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust, is reflected in a display cabinet at the memorial site in Jerusalem's Mount Zion (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
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