The Berlin Senate has decided that a prominent street near the German Reichstag will be officially renamed Yad Vashem Street, after Israel’s Holocaust museum, symbolizing the importance of Holocaust remembrance and sending a strong message against antisemitism.
The future Yad Vashem Street in Berlin will border Wilhelmstrasse, which was the center of power during the Nazi era, housing both Hitler’s Reich Chancellery and the Reich Security Main Office.
The official renaming ceremony is scheduled for January 20, 2027, the 85th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference. On Jan. 20, 1942, senior Nazi officials met in a villa on Berlin’s Lake Wannsee to coordinate the mass murder of millions of Jews across Europe.
“The symbolism of the date is enormous. There could hardly have been a better one for the day of the renaming,” said Kai Diekmann, chair of the Friends of Yad Vashem. “With this, Berlin is sending a powerful message against antisemitism and for preserving the memory of the crimes against humanity committed in the name of Germany.
The announcement comes less than a week after Yad Vashem announced that it selected Munich as the site for its first Holocaust education center outside Israel as part of its effort to expand Holocaust education and combat rising antisemitism and historical distortion in Europe.
