The official opening ceremony for the annual Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem will take place on Sunday with as central theme "Defiance and Rebellion during the Holocaust: 70 Years Since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising."
Israel’s President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak. Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, will kindle the Memorial Torch.
During the ceremony, Holocaust survivors will light six torches in memory of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.
The traditional memorial service will take place during the ceremony. The Rishon LeZion Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Amar will recite Psalms. The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yona Metzger will recite Kaddish. El Maleh Rahamim, a Jewish prayer for the souls of the martyrs, will be recited by Cantor Azi Schwartz.
At 22:00 a special radio program entitled “Shoah, Heroism and Definitions” that will explore the essence of heroism during the Holocaust, will air on Galei Zahal, the Israeli army radio as a joint program with Yad Vashem.
Yad Vashem called on the public to fill in Pages of Testimony to commemorate the names of Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Volunteers are available to help Holocaust survivors fill out Pages of Testimony. At the same time, Yad Vashem is continuing the “Gathering the Fragments” campaign in an effort to rescue Holocaust-related documents, artifacts, photographs and art.