Senior Artifacts Curator Honored

Haviva Peled-Carmeli (left) at the opening of the exhibition
"Gathering the Fragments - Behind the Scenes of the
Campaign to Rescue Personal Items from the Holocaust”

Recently, Haviva Peled-Carmeli, Senior Curator & Director of the Artifacts Department at Yad Vashem was cited by the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport for her professional achievements in the field. She was nominated for the 2013 Curator's Award by Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem and Yehudit Inbar, Director of the Museums Division. The prestigious award is given to a select few with impressive professional qualifications in the discipline who have incorporated and demonstrated historical research and in-depth knowledge of museology, all while engaged in making their collection accessible to the public. Before coming to Yad Vashem, Peled-Carmeli previously worked for many years at the Israel Museum and was the former Director of the Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem.

Prayer book exchanged in Auschwitz in 1944 by Zvi 
Kopolovich for his bread portion is just one of the
 some 13,000 items found in the Artifacts Collection

Since joining Yad Vashem's Museums Division, Haviva has been instrumental in developing and expanding the artifacts collection and her input and expertise was an integral part in the curatorial team's efforts in creating the new Holocaust History Museum which opened in 2005. Haviva was personally involved in collecting many of the Holocaust artifacts from Europe and meeting with Holocaust survivors to piece together additional information regarding many priceless relics. She also developed a unique approach to artifacts' collection by placing an emphasis on the story and deeper meaning surrounding the item.

Peled-Carmeli notes, "The Artifacts Collection includes some 13,000 objects that have been collected throughout the existence of Yad Vashem. Included are a wide variety of artifacts that survived the war, among them personal effects as well as items that served families or communities – some are elaborate and splendidly crafted, and others’ simplicity reflects the harsh conditions under which they were made."

For information about donating personal items to Yad Vashem: collect@yadvashem.org.il.

More information about the Artifacts in the Yad Vashem Museum Collection can be found here: 
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/bearing_witness/homepage.asp