26 באפריל 2023
שלומי רוזנפלד
Holocaust Remembrance Day
A national day of mourning in Israel, also officially known as: Yom HaZikaron LaShoah VeLaGevurah (Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day).
It exists to remind Israelis of the Holocaust of the Jewish people that occurred in the middle of the 20th century, during World War II, without which it is doubtful whether the State of Israel would have been established. The war led to the annihilation of six million Jews and the destruction of European Jewry. On these ruins, the Jewish people rose again and declared their independence in a sovereign state.
Holocaust Remembrance Day is the climax of the second week in the National Season of the Israeli spring.
Its date is set according to the Hebrew calendar (27th of Nisan). On the Gregorian calendar, this falls sometime between the months of April and May – on a different date each year.
Its placement in this season is completely coincidental.
Immediately after the establishment of the state, when the memories of the war were fresh, and its wounds had not healed, it was important for the state's leaders to memorialize it and its results, and to instill in future generations a myth of Holocaust and rebirth. They chose a Hebrew date on which the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began, one of the most prominent myths in the history of World War II, and it happened to fall during this period, after the Festival of Freedom (Passover) and before Memorial Day and Independence Day, two significant dates in the Israeli story.
Since then, it has been there, to remember and be remembered, and to be one of the cornerstones of the Israeli narrative.
Memorial Day is a day enshrined in Israeli law.
It was legislated in the 1950s, shortly after the state was founded. The law established its unique format, and the format has remained almost the same since, with the same daily and national agenda:
It begins in the evening.
As is customary in Jewish milestones according to the Hebrew calendar, where the evening and night precede the day, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, too, with the sunset, a somber atmosphere settles over the land. Restaurants and coffee shops close. Television, radio, and internet channels broadcast live the main state ceremony at the "Yad Vashem" museum, and from then on, for 24 hours, they will broadcast programs and films related to the Holocaust, war survivors, and their families from the first, second, and third generations.
The next day, during the day itself, unique ceremonies are held in all educational institutions and public institutions in every city and settlement in Israel.
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Every photo has a name at the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem. Memorial Day for the Holocaust and the heroism of the six million Jewish victims.
The State of Israel still considers Holocaust Remembrance Day an important chapter in its narrative.
Even eighty-five years after its occurrence, no one tries to challenge this. This is a day on which expressions like: "We will never forget" and in English: "Never again" are repeated over and over again.
All Jewish Israelis learn about the Holocaust from the day they enter the education system, in kindergarten, then in elementary and middle school, and until the end of high school. Afterwards, in their military service, in their university or Yeshiva studies, in their workplaces, and wherever they may be – every year on this day, they will absorb the atmosphere around them and dedicate time and thought to the memory.
The passing years may distance the historical events from the collective memory, but they do not dull their intensity and their impact on the public.
The gap in years is closing with the help of advanced technology that is enlisted to prevent oblivion and enhance memory. Through technological innovations, one can look at events with a magnifying glass, and delve more and more into the details of the horrors. The black-and-white and color photos, the almost authentic reconstructions, and all the sophisticated pyrotechnics make the painful history of the Jews in Europe accessible – before the Holocaust began, during it, and in the years that followed.
Museums in Israel and around the world have been established to preserve the painful memory, foremost among them the "Yad Vashem" museum. The museum complex on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem is a site crowded with visitors all year round, and to it come state leaders to receive a hefty dose of pain and memory and to understand the foundations for the establishment of the State of Israel.
Holocaust survivors also contribute their part to the memorialization. Their numbers are dwindling, but their children, the second generation, continue to remember and remind others of the chilling stories they heard from their parents, harrowing stories that no human ear can absorb.
Holocaust Remembrance Day is not a day off from work, and business is as usual, although in a slightly different and somber atmosphere than on regular days.
Nevertheless, a single national memorial siren in the late morning stops work everywhere, and Israeli citizens dedicate a minute of silence to the memory of the Holocaust victims. bow their head silently throughout the national memorial siren After the siren, they will continue to work, but they will listen to the echoes of the voices rising from every radio and television receiver. From every speech they will hear. From every post they will read on one of the internet channels.
Moshe Yacobovitz, a Holocaust survivor, lights a torch at the official ceremony at the "Yad Vashem" Museum in Jerusalem. Memorial Day 2017
from the book "Building on an Empty Lot"
This is part of "The Israeli Story 1948-2025" project
What is The Israeli Story ?
A curated selection of Israeli snapshots, those that were and still are with us. Each one deserves an updated definition with a few words of explanation along with a tiny bit of history. Just a little – and all of them together go into the virtual Israeli Story that will remain online for future generations. You can see what's included in it by clicking on the icon below.
