Forest of the Martyrs

Photo by MWPHOTOS55 / Shutterstock

Forest of the Martyrs

A man-made forest planted in memory of the victims of the Holocaust

The Martyrs Forest (Ya'ar HaKdoshim in Hebrew) is a man-made forest about 20 kilometers from Jerusalem.

It is located in the Judean Mountains near the Kisalon Stream, east of Highway 38.

You can get there by Highway 395, which starts at the intersection of highways 38 and 44.

 

This forest was planted with the funding of the Jewish National Fund.

It owes its name, which can also be translated as the Forest of Saints (Martyrs), to the fact that it is a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.

Six million trees were planted to make up this memorial forest, symbolizing the number of Jews exterminated by Hitler’s regime.

The planting of the trees started back in 1947 even before the proclamation of the State of Israel. Here's an interesting detail: at the time, practically all the forests in Israel were  destroyed and the total forest resources of the country were only twice as much as the number of trees planted in the Forest of Martyrs by today.

The Scroll of Fire (in Hebrew - Megillat ha-Esh) was built on the central meadow of the forest in 1971.

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