Yad HaShmona: A Finnish-Israeli Village in the Jerusalem Hills

Yad HaShmona (Memorial to the Eight) is a unique community in the Jerusalem hills, founded in 1971 by Finnish Christians in memory of eight Austrian Jewish refugees who had fled to Finland who were handed over to the Nazis by the Finnish government during World War II and sent to Auschwitz. Seven were murdered; one, Georg Kollmann, survived. The community, which includes a guesthouse, a biblical garden, and a reconstructed biblical-era village, is one of the most unusual expressions of Christian-Jewish solidarity in Israel.

The Eight Who Were Deported

In 1942, the Finnish government deported eight Jewish refugees to Nazi Germany, where seven were murdered and one survived. The act, small in scale compared to the deportations from other countries, became a source of deep shame in Finland. After the war, Finnish Christians sought to make amends, and in 1971, a group of Finnish volunteers came to Israel and established Yad HaShmona as a living memorial to the eight victims. The memorial stone at the community lists the names and ages of the eight victims, the youngest of whom was a child.

Biblical Village

The Biblical Village is a carefully reconstructed ancient settlement set among the terraced hillsides. Built with archaeological guidance, it includes a wine press, an olive press, a carpenter’s workshop, a first-century house, a mikveh (ritual bath), a watchtower, and a synagogue, all designed to bring daily life in the time of Jesus to tangible, three-dimensional reality. Visitors can walk through the narrow lanes, sit inside the stone houses, and see how grain was ground, oil was pressed, and wine was produced two thousand years ago. For Christian pilgrims especially, this is one of the most immersive experiences in the Jerusalem area, a place where the parables and stories of the Gospels suddenly feel concrete and physical.

Adjacent to the village, a Biblical Garden features plants mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, labeled with their scriptural references. The garden paths wind through terraces of hyssop, mustard, fig, pomegranate, and other species that appear in the text, offering a quiet space for reflection with panoramic views over the Ayalon Valley and the Jerusalem Corridor below. The combination of the reconstructed village and the garden makes Yad HaShmona a place where ancient history, living botany, and personal contemplation meet on a single hilltop.

The community operates a guesthouse that accommodates pilgrim groups and tourists, with views of the Jerusalem Corridor. The guesthouse offers a quiet, contemplative alternative to the busy hotels of Jerusalem, and the combination of the memorial, the biblical village, and the hilltop setting makes it a meaningful place to stay.

Visit with Hoshen Tours

Yad HaShmona tells the story of Finnish righteous gentiles who found a home in the Jerusalem Hills. Hoshen Tours pairs it with Neot Kedumim, the Ark’s resting place at Kiryat Yearim, the road to Emmaus, and the Crusader spring at Ein Hemed.