Yom HaShoah - Definition and Overview

Yom HaShoah (יום השואה yom hash-sho’āh), or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a Jewish holiday that takes place on the 27th day of Nisan, in the Hebrew calendar. It is held every year in remembrance of the approximately six million Jews who died in the Holocaust. It is a national holiday in Israel.

It was originally proposed to be on the 15th of Nisan, the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising (April 19, 1943), but this was objected to as being the first day of Passover. Instead, the 27th was chosen, being eight days before Yom Ha'atzma'ut, or Israeli Independence Day. Yom HaShoah was established by Israeli law in 1959, and was signed by David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, then prime minister of Israel and president of Israel, respectively.

At 10:00 on Yom HaShoah, air-raid sirens sound for two minutes throughout Israel. Public transport comes to a standstill for this period, and people stop and stand silent. During Yom HaShoah, much public entertainment and many public establishments in Israel are closed by law. National television transmits documentaries about the Holocaust. All flags on public buildings are flown at half mast.

See also

• Holocaust.
• Genocide.
• Holocaust Memorial Day — the annual Holocaust memorial in the United Kingdom.

External links

• Yom HaShoah from the Israeli Knesset (in English) (http://www.knesset.gov.il/shoah/eng/eshoah.htm)
• Yom HaShoah from the Israeli Knesset (in Hebrew) (http://www.knesset.gov.il/shoah/heb/shoah.htm)