In 1993, Haifa resident Shimon Sebag was in a serious car accident that left him paralyzed in both legs. Sebag was unable to walk for two years and says he made a pact with God that if he recovered, he would dedicate his life to improving the welfare of the community and society. Sebag recovered and true to his word, established Yad Ezer Lechaver, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance and support to disadvantaged populations, especially Holocaust survivors, the elderly, and families in distress.
Yad Ezer Lechaver operates a wide range of projects, including food distribution, shelters, medical assistance, and mental health support. One of the organization’s main projects is a retirement home for Holocaust survivors, affording them a warm home and a sense of community in their later years.
Today, nearly 100 Holocaust survivors, ranging in age from 86 to 104, live in the retirement home. The organization also assists Holocaust survivors in other areas of Haifa, offering food, home repairs, physical therapy, and other services.
In 2017, Sebag established the Haifa Holocaust Museum near the retirement home, which tells the story of the Holocaust and displays artifacts from the period, including Torah scrolls, menorahs, prayer shawls, and tefillin that were hidden in ghettos and extermination camps. In addition, the museum features art exhibitions by Holocaust survivors Manya Herman and Rita Kasimao-Brown, which depict the traumas they experienced through their art.
What sets the museum apart from others of its type, explains Sebag, is the fact that the survivors themselves, living in the adjacent retirement home, lead the museum tours. “If you are viewing an exhibit about the Lodz Ghetto, a survivor of Lodz leads your tour. If you are in the exhibit on Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen, a survivor of the camp will provide the explanations.”
One of the museum’s most notable additions is the use of modern holograms that allow visitors to experience survivors’ testimonies through virtual reality. In 2021, Yad Ezer Lechaver invested considerable resources in creating a three-dimensional system that enables visitors to view the testimony of survivors more directly and tangibly. The goal of the project is to commemorate the lives of as many survivors as possible and document their personal stories so that people can continue to learn from their harrowing experiences in the future.
Among the most unusual items found in the museum are the original brands used by the Nazis to tattoo numbers on the bodies of the Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz. These items constitute tangible and shocking testimony to what the survivors experienced in the death camps.
Sebag has now turned his attention to the tragic events of October 7 that took place in the South of Israel and will be opening the “Seventh of October Museum” on October 5, the first museum dedicated to remembering the victims of the murderous Hamas attacks.
The Seventh of October Museum was built to commemorate the victims and create a place for learning and processing past and present events, while integrating advanced technologies that will pass on the stories of the victims to future generations. The museum is adjacent to the organization’s Holocaust Museum, creating a fascinating and moving connection between the memories of the Holocaust and the tragedy that struck the State of Israel in October 2023.
The museum will serve not only to commemorate the victims but also to enable visitors to learn and understand the cycles of history and how human cruelty can repeat itself throughout history. “I speak frequently with Holocaust survivors,” says Shabag, “which is why I opened this museum. They said that before World War II, people in Germany didn’t take the threat to murder the Jews seriously. They thought they were just words. When we see the cruelty of what Hamas did on October 7 and the Nazi literature found there (Arabic translations of Hitler’s Mein Kampf’ were found at a Hamas base in Gaza), it is the same cruelty, but on a smaller scale. If we are not united, it could happen again,” adding that Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has explicitly called for Israel’s destruction.
The building includes four floors – two of which are devoted to the Holocaust and two floors to the events of October 7 – and is equipped with dedicated parking for buses and an underground parking lot for the convenience of visitors.
The façade of the museum is covered with a unique glass on which images of Holocaust survivors and those murdered in the tragic events of October will be projected, to illustrate the deep connection between these two historical periods.
Visitors to the Seventh of October Museum will be exposed to a wide variety of content that combines traditional and modern technology, including advanced hologram displays that preserve the memory of the victims uniquely and movingly. Visitors will be able to view holograms of people who were murdered in the difficult events, and with the help of artificial intelligence, they will tell their personal stories. It’s a powerful and unforgettable experience that will give new life to stories that were on the verge of being forgotten.
Among the exhibits will be a “desert” wall that combines sound technology and images, allowing visitors to click on the pictures of the victims and hear their life stories. The wall will show those who were the victims in their lives and the circumstances that led to their murder. Another wall will commemorate employees of the Israel Electric Company who were murdered during the fighting.
The museum will display personal items preserved by the victims’ families, and each item will be accompanied by a moving story describing their lives. These items will tell the individual and unique story of each of the victims while providing a look at the life that existed before the tragedy.
The museum will also serve as an educational center for schoolchildren, the IDF, and the Israel Police, and will be open to groups of visitors from Israel and around the world. It will enable visitors to learn about the events in innovative ways.
Says Sabag, “The establishment of the museum is a moral obligation and an opportunity to honor and perpetuate the memory of the victims of the terrible massacre. We experience again and again the cycles of cruelty in history, and the Holocaust seemed like a distant memory, until cruelty struck the Jewish people again. The new museum will ensure that the personal stories of the victims are not forgotten. We must pass these stories on to future generations. The commemoration of the victims of the massacre is the key to a better future.
“In order to continue its vital activity in commemorating the memory of the victims and expanding the museum,” he adds, “Yad Ezer Lechaver is appealing to the public to support the museum. Donations will make it possible to ensure that the stories of the victims are never forgotten, and that future generations can learn from the past and build a better future.”
Both museums are open to the public between 9 AM and 6 PM daily. Admission is free.
For more information and donations, please contact by phone: *8602 or visit the organization’s website.
This article was written in cooperation with Yad Ezer Lechaver