Israelis and Jews around the globe will commemorate Israel’s national Holocaust Remembrance Day, “Yom HaShoah”, in memory of the over 6 millions Jews killed during the Holocaust, beginning on Wednesday evening and continuing through all of Thursday.
As with each year, the national Holocaust Memorial ceremony will be held at Yad VaShem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will both give speeches at the ceremony to be held at the Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem.
During the ceremony six Holocaust survivors, accompanied by their grandchildren, will light 6 candles, each candle representing 1 million of 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust.
Prime Minister Netanyahu met with the selected Holocaust survivors who will light the candles in the ceremony on Thursday stating “I have one mission: One Yad Vahem is enough. One time. There will be no second time. The hatred of Jews has not disappeared in 70 years, and it is now directed at the Jewish state. But the state is very, very strong — and its strength is your strength.”
Thousands of Jewish youth groups and Jewish communities have travelled to Poland on the “March of the Living” over the past week, visiting the concentration camps through out the country. Several world leaders will participate in a ceremony held in Auschwitz tomorrow, the IDF sending a delegation each year to Auschwitz.
Sirens will designate two minutes of silence on Thursday morning. All of the Nation of Israel stops and stands in remembrance of the genocide of the Jewish people. Ceremonies and educational programs will be held through out the day in remembrance of the Holocaust. The Knesset will hold a ceremony entitled “Every Person Has a Name”, where Members of Parliament will read out names of those lost during the Holocaust.
Amir Tsarfati, a Jewish Christian, is the founder and president of Behold Israel, a news site to correct the scarcity in trustworthy reportage on issues and events impacting Israel, and to resolve the uncertainty about who or what to believe.