World Jewish News

Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem on Sunday

Jews "On the Edge": 1944: Between Annihilation and Liberation will be the central theme for this year’s Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day.
The official opening cremony for the Remembrance Day will take place on Sunday, in Warsaw Ghetto Square, Yad Vashem, Mount of Remembrance, Jerusalem.
Israel’s President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak. Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, will kindle the Memorial Torch.
Dr. Shalom Eilati will speak on behalf of the survivors.
During the ceremony, Holocaust survivors will light six torches. First torch: Asher Aud, second torch: Zvi Michaeli, third torch: Dita Kraus, fourth torch: Chayim Herzl, fifth torch: Hinda Tasman, sixth torch: Itzchak Biran. During the ceremony, short videos about each of the torchlighters will be shown (produced and directed by Levi Zini).
The traditional memorial service will take place during the ceremony.
The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau will recite Psalms. The Rishon LeZion Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef will recite Kaddish.
El Maleh Rahamim, a Jewish prayer for the souls of the martyrs, will be recited by Lt. Col Shai Abramson, Chief Cantor of the Israel Defense Forces.
Following the opening ceremony, a study evening will be held for students, as well as participants in the "Masa Israel Journey" program, at the International School for Holocaust Studies.
At 21:30, an evening of discussion and commemoration organized by the International School for Holocaust Studies of Yad Vashem in cooperation with the Tel Aviv Municipality and the Habimah Theater "So that the Next Generations Will Know" – Between Memory and Identity in Israeli Discourse, will take place at the Habimah Theater in Tel Aviv.
Yad Vashem will be closed to the public as of 12 noon on April 27. It will re-open on Monday, April 28, at 8:00 a.m. The Museum Complex and Children’s Memorial will open at 10:30.
Yad Vashem calls on the public to fill in Pages of Testimonyto 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.

EJP