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This work is an examination of the relationship between cultural ethos of three well-established Holocaust museums and individual agency of victims, survivors and descendants, as factors contributing to the display of artifacts. Yad Vashem, the Ghetto Fighters´ House Museum and the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., are discussed. While statism and nationalistic forces are present in all three museums, the artifacts collections are a development of highly individualistic forces of agency that emanate from the victims, survivors, families and communities of the artifacts´ origins.

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Dr. Gabriel Mayer is a graduate of Boston University (Art History) and Boston University Medical School (MD).After a long career as a medical doctor, professor and clinical researcher, he moved to Israel. He then attended University of Haifa, attaining an MA in Holocaust Studies. He is currently Head Historian of Martef Hashoah Museum, Jerusalem

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