Ghetto Fighters' House Museum

The Ghetto Fighters' House – Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum– known as the “House” – is not only the first Holocaust museum in the world but also the first of its kind to be founded by Holocaust survivors.  Since its establishment in 1949, the museum tells the story of the Holocaust during World War II, emphasizing the bravery, spiritual triumph and the incredible ability of Holocaust survivors and the fighters of the revolt to rebuild their lives in a new country about which they had dreamed – the State of Israel.

The Ghetto Fighters’ House gives evidence to the founders’ vision.  Having to put behind them the grief and the horror, they chose to come to the Western Galilee in order to build a flourishing kibbutz – the Ghetto Fighters’ Kibbutz – and the museum located within the community.

In light of this vision, the Ghetto Fighters’ House provides its visitors, both from Israel and abroad, a unique experience, going beyond the grief and horror in order to make evident Antek Zukerman’s declaration in the first National Gathering for Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day that took place on the Ghetto Fighters’ Kibbutz:  “We came here to build homes filled with life.” 

Alongside the museum is the Center for Humanistic Education, whose goal is to instill knowledge and understanding of the events that took place during the Holocaust through dialogue and joint learning.  The center strives to create multi-cultural gatherings in which intensive discussions can take place concerning the human and universal meaning of the Holocaust both within and beyond Israeli society.

In 1995, the Yad Layeled Children’s Memorial Museum was established at the Ghetto Fighters’ House in order to commemorate the memory of the Jewish children who perished during the Holocaust.  The aim of the children’s museum is to acquaint young visitors with the world of the children who lived during the Holocaust, providing an experiential venue through which they can explore the subject of the Holocaust in an age appropriate manner. 

Exhibitions and events

Yikzkor Hall

Permanent exhibition

In this hall the visitor encounters the holdings of Jewish culture that were lost in the Holocaust, as they are expressed in their existing forms: as personal papers, official documents, photographs,...

Home of Testimony

Permanent exhibition

This exhibition tells the stories of the founders of the Ghetto Fighters' Kibbutz (Lohamei Haghetaot) – as a community with shared biographical characteristics, and as a collection of individual...

Camps Exhibition

Permanent exhibition

This renewed exhibition (formerly “Hall of the Camps”) was inaugurated in October 2010 after two years of renovation, updating, and redesign. The displays concisely depict the industry that was the...

Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust

Permanent exhibition

In the history of humanity, no other people has stood against such a powerful force bent on its annihilation, as had the Jewish People under the Nazi occupation. Even so, the Jews did not submit to...