Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) occurs each year on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan (sometime in April or May). This date was selected by the Israeli Parliament on April 12, 1951. The original proposal was to hold Yom HaShoah on the 14th of Nisan, the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (April 19, 1943), but this was problematic because the 14th of Nisan is the day immediately before the Jewish holiday of Passover. The date was moved to the 27th of Nisan, which is eight days before Israeli Independence Day. There is no institutionalized ritual for Yom HaShoah, but generally memorial candles are lit and the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the departed, is recited.

 

Days of Remembrance

The United States Congress established the Days of Remembrance as our nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is responsible for leading the nation in commemorating the Days of Remembrance, and for encouraging and sponsoring appropriate observances throughout the United States.

The Days of Remembrance run from the Sunday before Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) through the following Sunday and are observed by state and local governments, military bases, workplaces, schools, churches, synagogues, and civic centers.

The Birmingham Holocaust Education Center (BHEC) officially commemorates the Holocaust with a community event during the Days of Remembrance.

 

Days of Remembrance, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

VIDEO: “Why We Remember the Holocaust,” (8:54), U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum