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Yom HaShoah
Yom HaShoah (יום השואה yom hash-sho’āh), or Holocaust Remembrance Day, is an Israeli 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 where murdered in the Holocaust by the Nazis. 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 10:00am on Yom HaShoah, air-raid sirens sound for two minutes throughout Israel. Public transport (including virtually all highway vehicles) 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. Israeli television and radio channels transmit mourning songs and documentaries about the Holocaust, and no commercials. All flags on public buildings are flown at half mast.
Also during this day, tens of thousands of Israeli high-school students, and thousands of jews from around the world, hold a memorial service in Auschwitz, in what became known as "The March of the Living", in defiance of the Holocaust Death Marches. This event is endorsed and subsidized by the Israeli Ministry of Education, and is considered an important part of the academic studies - a culmination of several months of studies on World War II and the Holocaust.
Yom HaShoah - Yom HaShoah in the Gregorian calendar
Yom HaShoah is on 27th day of Nisan, but it varies from year to year in the Gregorian calendar:
- 2004: April 18
- 2005: May 6
- 2006: April 25
- 2007: April 15
- 2008: May 2
- 2009: April 21
Holocaust, Genocide, Holocaust Memorial Day — the annual Holocaust memorial in the United Kingdom, Ani Maamin -- the Hymn of the Camps, often sung at Holocaust memorial services
See also
- Holocaust
- Genocide
- Holocaust Memorial Day — the annual Holocaust memorial in the United Kingdom
- Ani Maamin -- the Hymn of the Camps, often sung at Holocaust memorial services
Other related archives1943, 1959, Ani Maamin, April 15, April 18, April 19, April 21, April 25, Auschwitz, David Ben-Gurion, Death Marches, Genocide, Gregorian calendar, Hebrew calendar, Holocaust, Holocaust Memorial Day, Independence Day, Israel, Israeli, Jews, May 2, May 6, Nisan, Passover, President of Israel, Prime Minister of Israel, United Kingdom, Warsaw ghetto uprising, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, Yom Ha'atzma'ut, half mast, national holiday
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Yom HaShoah", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
