Israel's Holocaust museum Yad Vashem has launched a YouTube channel in Farsi, the primary language of Iran, on the lead up to International Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January).

In addition to the new YouTube channel, the Jerusalem-based museum has launched an expanded version of its Farsi website. Avner Shalev, chairman, Yad Vashem, said the primary goal of the museum’s channels and the sites is to make “credible information” about the Holocaust accessible to “as wide an audience as possible”.

“Today, when there is so much disinformation and distortion easily available online, we provide an alternative to anyone who’s interested in the truth,” he said.

The Farsi YouTube channel - made possible with the financial backing of Australia’s Greg Rosshandler - contains survivor testimonies, archival footage, and mini-lectures by Holocaust historians on topics such as contemporary anti-semitism.

Meanwhile, the expanded Farsi website includes: a chronological and thematic narrative about the Holocaust with related video, photos, documents and artifacts; FAQs about the Holocaust; a lexicon of terms; online exhibitions including a multimedia presentation of the Auschwitz Album in Farsi; and stories of Righteous Among the Nations – the people all over the world who’ve been recognised by the State of Israel for the help they extended to the Jewish people during the Holocaust.

Commenting on the news, Auschwitz survivor Yaacov Handeli said: “I’m very moved that my testimony and that of other Holocaust survivors has been translated into Farsi and are on the Yad Vashem website.

“I see great importance in that Farsi speakers will be able to visit the site, to read and hear about the Holocaust in their own language.”

Yad Vashem's website and YouTube Channel are now available in English, Hebrew, Arabic, Russian, Spanish and Farsi.

If you would like to comment on this story, please email editorial@mandh-online.com and we will publish your thoughts and opinions.

Related Content:

Long-awaited opening of London’s Jewish Museum
The Jewish Museum London reopened on 17th March following a £10 million redevelopment.

Long-lost artwork of Holocaust survivor discovered
The work of an exiled Jewish artist whose paintings remained hidden for decades has been brought to the attention of the international art world thanks to a Kingston University professor.