The Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial project has accepted a tree that will be positioned near the Garden of the Righteous in its Jerusalem museum. Holocaust survivor Jakob Silberstein, who had fled an Auschwitz death march and hidden in the home of a Czech woman, used the tree as a hiding place for nine hours as Nazi officers searched the area in which he was hiding.
After the war, Silberstein searched for the Czech woman who had allowed him to stay in her home, finally locating her family in 2004, 11 years after her death. The woman, Jana Sudova, was recognized as one of the Righteous Among the Nations in 2006. Silberstein searched for the tree as well, and after locating it, shipped it to Israel and asked that it be included at Yad VaShem. The tree went on permanent display on Monday.