The Annual Yom HaShoah Ceremony at Yad Vashem

The 27th of Nissan, Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day), is the national day in Israel dedicated to commemorating the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, held each year on the anniversary of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising. The two national ceremonies — one in the evening and one the next morning — are held at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and broadcast live on television. Attended by the President and Prime Minister of Israel, dignitaries, and survivors and their families, the ceremonies include the lighting of six torches, the sounding of the memorial siren heard throughout the country, the laying of wreaths at the foot of the torches by dignitaries and the representatives of survivor institutions, speeches, and more. The featured video (07:27) shows highlights from the 2013 ceremony, including the singing of the El Maleh Rachamim prayer for the soul of the departed and the Israeli national anthem. To see photos, videos, speeches, articles, the list of torch lighters, and more information about previous ceremonies, click here.