The Ziggurat of Ur, located in the present-day Dhi Qar Province, Iraq, is a Neo-Sumerian ziggurat in what was the city of Ur, near Nasiriyah.

Nanna, the Mesopotamian god of the moon.

The Merneptah Stele is a stone slab engraved with a description of Merneptah’s military victories in Africa and the Near East. It is significant for biblical archeology as it is the earliest extra-biblical reference to the nation of Israel.

The silver shekel was struck during the Bar Kokhba War 132-135 C.E, as a symbol of independence from Rome

The Titus victory arch showing the great menorah from the Temple in Jerusalem.

The infamous Judensau, which was seen as an insult to Jews, depicting them in obscene activities with a pig, sometimes including the Devil. It is often combined with depictions of blood libel.

Charles Netter, a Zionist leader and a founding member of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, 1870.

The official portraiture of the delegates of the First Zionist Congress, 1897.

Alfred Dreyfus contemplates his future whilst falsely imprisoned in 1898.

French writer Emile Zola’s inflammatory newspaper editorial, entitled “J’accuse,” exposed a military cover-up regarding Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Its publication caused a major storm in France.

The Jews of Russia were the victims of three large-scale waves of pogroms that took place between 1881 and 1921, with each one growing in the degree of savagery and brutality inflicted on the helpless victims.

Jewish Legion at the Wailing Wall, 1917.

Russian anti-Jewish propaganda was used to inflame antisemitism in 1906 and led to many attacks on Jews throughout Russia.

Theodor Herzl’s diary drawing of his proposed flag for the independent state of Israel.

The Balfour Declaration brought the reality of an independent state into prominence, thus bringing hope to Jews and dismay to their enemies.

The British Mandate for Palestine was a legal document adopted by the League of Nations on 24 July 1922. It established the United Kingdom as a Mandatory in control of Palestine, which had been held under military government when the British occupied it, displacing the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

In 1920 the International San Remo Conference gave Britain the Mandate to govern Palestine, but it was not until 1923, after the League of Nations approved and ratified its terms, that the Mandate officially came into full force. Britain excluded the area east of the Jordan (Trans-Jordan) from the area they had proposed for a Jewish homeland.

Menachem Begin (front row, left) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Israel, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group, Irgun.

Hitler was a great manipulator of the German people and stage managed huge rallies, such as this one in 1939. The large organised crowds included many foreigners, and even British aristocratic figures were invited.

British Cartoon on the Evian Conference showing the dilemma of displaced Jews.

Chaim Weizmann was a leading figure in establishing the State of Israel. In 1918 Weizmann was appointed head of the Zionist Commission, and was sent to Palestine by the British government to advise on the future development of the country.

The world was warned of the crisis for Jews in Germany and stands condemned as very little was done to deal with the rising crisis in Germany.

German newspapers carried propaganda against Jews, helping to create the antisemitic atmosphere that contributed to Hitler being seen as the saviour of Germany.

The British Home Secretary, Winston Churchill is escorted by High Commissioner Herbert Samuel, in Jerusalem.

The massacre of Jews in the Ukraine pogroms are a shocking testimony to the terrible record of antisemitism in the country. This image shows the aftermath of one act of mass murder of Jews in 1941.

Auschwitz remains a symbol of depravity, terror, genocide, and the Holocaust, reminding the world how mankind can descend to the greatest depths of evil. It was established by the Germans in 1940 in the suburbs of Oświęcim, a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis.

Impassioned with a determination to establish a Jewish State for the protection of their people, many young men joined the Jewish resistance and often laid down their lives for the cause.

Concentration camps were established throughout many of the countries conquered by the Nazis. Some of those who survived the horrors were able to tell the world the truths of the Nazi terrors.

The Nuremberg Trials of leading Nazis brought home to the world the extent of the Nazi evil that had inflicted the horror of the Holocaust on the Jewish people.

The British headlines on the Sergeants Affair when Irgun hanged British soldiers after the execution of their members, 1947.

In 1948, the UN announced the establishment of Israel.

The UN Peace Truce Map in 1948 demonstrates the chaos of the birth of Israel.

This celebration of Jewish independence demonstrates the joy of a persecuted people who have at last returned to their historical homeland.

Jerusalem remains a divided city, even today, yet every year it welcomes millions of visitors who flock to the historic Jewish sites and Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Center. © Carol Trow 2017