The Palmach Museum is a museum located in Ramat Aviv

Ramat Aviv

Ramat Aviv is the name of several neighborhoods in the Northwest District of Tel Aviv, Israel:* Ramat Aviv Aleph * Ramat Aviv Bet * Ramat Aviv Gimmel...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 dedicated to the Palmach

Palmach

The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...

, the strike-force of the pre-state underground Hagana defense organization, which was later integrated into the Israel Defense Forces

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

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Opened in 2000, the Palmach Museum commemorates the contribution of the Palmach to the creation of the State of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

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It was designed by the polish born Israeli architect Zvi Hecker

Zvi Hecker

Zvi Hecker is a Polish-born Israeli architect. His work is known for its emphasis on geometry and asymmetry.-Biography:Zvi Hecker was born on May 31, 1931 in Krakow, Poland. He grew up in Poland and Samarkand. He began his education in architecture at the Cracow University of Technology. He...

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The museum is an underground in a series of multi-media experience chambers, starting with a memorial for the fallen. The first room one enters is a scale version of Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

's Herzl Street in 1941, where newsreel of the period reporting on the war in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 projected on the street scene. This sets the stage for the telling of the formation of the Palmach, which was geared to dealing with two threats: the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 army in North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

 and the attacks by Arabs on the Yishuv

Yishuv

The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...

, the Jewish community.

The next chamber is suddenly an eucalyptus

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...

 grove at night, far from any prying eyes. Where visitors meet a unit of seven new Palmach recruits and their commander in their training orientation.

These actors, representing archetypes of Jewish origins, carries the visitor through the rest of the program.

Chamber after chamber, visitors follow the unit through training, experiences, personalities. Some are assigned to blowing up bridges, others to leading supply convoys to Jerusalem, others to bringing in immigration ships. Two fall in love.

The visitor is with them when they listen to the UN

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

vote on the fate of the country, and battle through the War of Independence.

External links

• Reliving the Legend: A new museum wins international acclaim for its design Ruth Heiges, Israel Magazine-on-web, 1 July 2000.
• Encounters- The Palmach History Museum
• Venice Biennale: The Palmach History Museum
• The Palmach House
• The Palmach Museum
• The Eyes of a Nation