Yom Hashoa Memorial Day in Israel: April 11
Yom Hashoa Memorial Day is celebrated as a public holiday in Israel
Yom Hashoa Memorial Day is the Jewish observation of the Holocaust where almost 6 million Jews were killed in a systematic genocide by Germany which was under the government of Adolf Hitler.
The full name of the holiday is Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura which means Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day and is celebrated every 27th day of the month of Nisan which falls after the seventh day of Passover.
History of Yom Hashoa Memorial Day in Israel
The Germans regarded the Jewish as the lowest class of people and believed that they are useless to the society so they treated them with abuse, torture and discrimination. During this period of the Holocaust, the Germans thought there were the superior.
The Holocaust was a period from 1933 to 1945 under the ruling power of the dictator Adolf Hitler shortly after the war in Europe. It was an orderly and practical mass killing that was sponsored by the Nazi regime and the administration of Hitler. Almost six million Jews were killed during this tragic moment. Almost one-third of the population of Israel was murdered and over 1.5 million of them are children.
After the catastrophic period of the Holocaust, the Jews decided to allot a memorial day to pay tribute to all the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. The commemoration date was decided by the Israeli Parliament on April 12, 1951. The 27th day of Nisan was chosen by the government as the mourning day. From that day forward, it has been religiously observed by Israel and by all Jewish communities throughout the world.
The history of the Jews was a combination of distress, discrimination, misery, joy and liberation. For them, it is because of these past experiences that shaped their nation and tradition which led them even closer to God.
Yom Hashoa Memorial Day Traditions, Customs and Activities
During this memorial day of the Yom Hashoah, people spend the day with by lighting candles while saying their prayers and some even singing praises and worships.
Part of the tradition is they light six candles as a representation of the six million who died on the Holocaust. Holocaust survivors also held speeches and messages that talks about their experiences about the tragic event at the same time be grateful about their survival.
In most parts of Israel, it has been a yearly tradition that every ten in the morning of the memorial day, they would sound a siren that signals people to stop on whatever they may be doing and spend a short period of time to remember and pray for the Holocaust victims.
Other interesting posts:
- The Festive Celebration of Purim in Israel
- Israel Celebrates Independence
- Armenian Genocide Memorial Day Commemorated in Armenia
- Israel celebrates Yom Kippur
- Israel observes Simchat Torah
Other interesting posts:
