Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel

April 7-8 marks Yom Hashoah or Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel. Yom Hashoah was established in Israel in 1953 by David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, as a day to commemorate the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. According to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the American Jewish Yearbook placed the total Jewish population of Europe at about 9.5 million in 1933. This number represented more than 60 percent of the world’s Jewish population, which was estimated at 15.3 million. Most European Jews resided in eastern Europe, with about 5 1/2 million Jews living in Poland and the Soviet Union. Before the Nazi takeover of power in 1933, Europe had a dynamic and highly developed Jewish culture. In little more than a decade, most of Europe would be conquered, occupied, or annexed by Nazi Germany and most European Jews–two out of every three–would be dead. A large segment Israel’s population are the survivors of the Holocaust or children of survivors.

Yom Hashoah is a solemn day in Israel which is inaugurated the evening before the actual day, since the Jewish calendar follows the moon rather than the sun. Yom Hashoah begins with a special ceremony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, where the Israeli flag is lowered to half-mast, the Prime Minister gives a speech, and Holocaust survivors light torches symbolizing the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. Yad Vashem is Israel’s national Holocaust Museum and a common destination for foreign visitors upon arrival in Israel. It is one of the most comprehensive Holocaust museums in the entire world.