⭕️ Harvard’s ‘doomsday vault’ preserves Israeli ‘CULTURE’ ‘in case Israel ceases to exist’ – The Cradle
⭕️ Harvard’s ‘doomsday vault’ preserves Israeli ‘CULTURE’ ‘in case Israel ceases to exist’
A Haaretz investigation has uncovered a secret Harvard archive preserving tens of thousands of Israeli publications, cultural artifacts, political materials, and scientific works as a “full backup of Israeli culture,” a safeguard reportedly created “in case Israel ceases to exist.”
Housed in vast underground halls and described by visiting Israeli poet Haim Be’er as a massive, temple-like facility filled with meticulously cataloged ephemera, from synagogue pamphlets, kibbutz newsletters, and memorial booklets, to political ads and Simchat Torah flags, the archive functions as an “alternative memory system” independent of Israeli state institutions.
Led for decades by Jewish scholar Charles Berlin, Harvard’s Israeliana division reportedly holds up to a million archival items, millions of images, and tens of thousands of hours of audio and video, forming what Be’er called a “civilizational insurance policy” designed to preserve Israel’s cultural record in a stable environment even if disasters, war, or political collapse threaten its survival.
READ FULL ARTICLE: This article originally appeared on The Cradle
