Yom Hasho’a, Israel’s Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and Heroism, is held on the 27th day of Nissan (towards the end of April or beginning of May), one week after Pesach (Passover). The day is dedicated to the memory of the six million Jews killed by the Nazis and to the heroism of the Jewish resistance in the Holocaust. The date was set to mark the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising on the eve of Pesach, April 19, 1943.
The Memorial Day was first marked in 1951, and was decreed by law in 1959. The law stipulates that all places of entertainment including restaurants and cafes are closed from the eve of Yom Hasho’a till the following evening. Memorial services are held throughout the country, and the central state ceremony takes place at Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust Remembrance organization. At 10 a.m. on Yom Hasho’a sirens are sounded for one minute throughout the country and it is customary to stand in silence. Flags are flown at half-mast and TV and radio broadcasts are devoted to the subject.
"Unto Every Person There is a Name"
Six million Jews, among them 1.5 million children, were murdered in the Shoah while the world remained silent. The worldwide Holocaust memorial project "Unto Every Person There is a Name" is a unique project designed to perpetuate their memory as individuals and restore their identity and dignity, through the public recitation of their names on Yom Hashoah - Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day. By personalizing the individual tragedies of the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany and its collaborators, this project counters persistent efforts by enemies of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to deny the reality of the Holocaust and cast it as history’s seminal hoax.
"Everyone has a name"
Everyone has a name
given to him by God
and given to him by his parents.
Everyone has a name
given to him by his stature
and the way he smiles.
and given to him by his clothing
Everyone has a name
given to him by the mountains
and given to him by the walls.
Everyone has a name
given to him by the stars
and given to him by his neighbors.
Everyone has a name
given to him by his sins and given to him by his longing.
Everyone has a name
given to him by his enemies
and given to him by his love.
Everyone has a name
given to him by his holidays
and given to him by his work.
Everyone has a name
given to him by the seasons
and given to him by his blindness.
Everyone has a name
given to him by the sea and
given to him
by his death.
Poem by Zelda
[translated from Hebrew]
"Unto Every Person There is a Name" is conducted around the world in hundreds of Jewish communities through the efforts of four major Jewish organizations: B'nai B'rith International, Nativ, the World Jewish Congress and the World Zionist Organization. The project is coordinated by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, in consultation with the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and enjoys the official auspices of the President of the State of Israel Shimon Peres. In Israel, "Unto Every Person There is a Name" has become an integral part of the official Yom Hashoah commemoration ceremonies, with the central events held at the Knesset and at Yad Vashem with the participation of elected officials, as well as events throughout the country.