ABSTRACT
When Mordechai Shenhabi started thinking about Yad Vashem during the Holocaust, he envisioned a monumental institution for the commemoration of the destroyed Diaspora and its manifestations of heroism. The Zionist institutions that gave their approval to the plan viewed its mission in the same way. However, in the late 1940s the extensive documentation activities in Yad Vashem obscured the plans for commemoration, which were at a standstill. These activities reached their climax during the world conference convened by Yad Vashem in 1947. It was the first conference discussing Holocaust research therefore it is worth clarifying its background, course, and the proposals raised by it concerning Holocaust research, commemoration and education.
