General Shlomo Shamir's words regarding the perception of the museum
…“This is the most important building in the State. Its content – the Jewish People’s war of survival.
Judaism came to the fighters as they fought.
There is no place in this Country that has cared to treat these problematic issues thoroughly – the unity of the Jewish Nation and its war of survival.
The Museum should not be a museum for World War II, on all the struggles this war has seen. The Museum ought to show the part of the Jewish Nation undertaken by its sons, in the course of the war, as was their duty in each country, and devote the attention to the sacrifice and the courage of many of its people.
The Museum must be a source to the important legacy of their human, Jewish and military understanding as one – a common destiny and courage.
The Museum will make it possible for Jews all over the world to find their place in the war jointly with the entire Jewish People.
To those who are not Jews, the Museum will show the full capacity of the Jewish People’s force being exhausted, and the soldiers who will appear are in fact everything that the Jewish Nation was able to place for battle.
That is to say, the history of the Jewish fighter in World War II – is actually the war history of the entire Jewish People.To the Israeli visitor this raises the sense of belonging to the Jewish People, and to those who are not sensitive to self-determination as Jews and think they are only Israeli this will come as a reminder that they are also Jews.
There will be treatment of the very wide and deep legacy of sacrifice and courage under conditions of war, from which there is also room to draw the strengths of the soul that are necessary in our entire process of existence.
The Museum as such, a museum which is actually the inheritance of the State of Israel in partnership with Yad Lashiryon, is intended, as mentioned above, for all Jewish communities and for all distinguished visitors who are guests of the State to attend.
The Museum will appear on the map of the Jewish People and at the same time it will appear on the map of the world’s museums.
It is hence necessary that in its external appearance it will be worthy of appearing
The experiences in it will be so powerful, that they will not require many external artificial means to intensify the impression.The thesis which says that the Museum will point at the exodus from darkness to light – is unacceptable. Coming out of the war still is accompanied by suffering and injury from battle, and precisely in that battle in which you subdue evil there could be a great light.
Only the Jewish State can allow itself to show the participation of whole the Jewish Nation in the war effort.
With the assembly of the Government – the Museum becomes National, a place that introduces the Country and the Jewish People”…