Erica Siaulinski, Staff Writer
Each year, Holocaust Remembrance Day is recognized on the 27th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar. In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-la G’vurah (Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day), and is referred to as Yom HaShoah. When the actual date of Yom HaShoah falls on a Friday, the State of Israel observes Yom HaShoah on the preceding Thursday. Each year this date changes due to the calendar, yet each year the recognition remains.
Although memorials for Holocaust victims began unofficially in the early 1950s, Holocaust Remembrance Day was established on April 8 1959 as it falls within the time span of the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April to May of 1943.
The United States Congress established Days of Remembrance across the country as a way of honoring and recognizing those who were victims of the holocaust. The U.S. Department of State annually hosts a Yom HaShoah event, often in partnership with the international diplomatic corps in Washington, DC, in honor of those who were victims of Nazi persecution and who passed away during the holocaust. Yom HaShoah also honors the survivors of history’s darkest hour.
Each year, the International March of the Living takes place. An annual education program that includes a powerful sight, a march led by survivors of the holocaust, aged 80 to 98, from all across the world led a march from the infamous labor camp, Auschwitz in Poland to Birkenau, another infamous labor camp built by the Nazis in 1941. Often, participants also from all over the world and from schools across the globe join survivors in their march. This march is in memory of those who lost their lives during the holocaust and to those who suffered at the hands of intolerance and antisemitism.
Other events like ones that take place in Yad Vashem, include formal ceremonies. Six torches are lit to honor the six million people who lost their lives during the holocaust. During this ceremony a siren is played for two minutes in which everything stops, cars come to a halt, people don’t speak and everything stands still to honor those who lost their lives.
The White House released a Presidential Statement on April 13th about Holocaust Remembrance Day. In memorial for those who lost their lives. This statement is available to read online, at The White House Washington website.
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