02 May 2016
The official Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day will take place on Wednesday, 4 May 2016 at 20:00, in Warsaw Ghetto Square, Yad Vashem, Mount of Remembrance, Jerusalem.
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will both deliver remarks. Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council, will kindle the Memorial Torch. Zahava Roth will speak on behalf ofthe survivors.
During the ceremony, Holocaust survivors will light six torches. First torch: Sara Kain, second torch: Robert Tamashof, third torch: Jehosua Hesel Fried, fourth torch: Joseph Labi, fifth torch: Chaim Grosbein, sixth torch: Lonia Rozenhoch. During the ceremony, short videos about each of the torchlighters will be shown, produced and directed by Shlomo Hazan. These videos will be available on the Yad Vashem website in the section dedicated to Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The ceremony will include the traditional memorial service including the recitation of a chapter from Psalms by the Rishon LeZion Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau will recite the Kaddish and Cantor Israel Parneswill recite El Maleh Rahamim, the Jewish prayer for the souls of the martyrs'. Participants in the ceremony will include singers Kobi Aflalo and the IDF Paratroopers’ Honor Guard. Narrative pieces: Actress Netta Garti. The evening’s MC will be Danny Cushmaro.
The ceremony will be broadcast live on television on Channels 1, 2, 10 and 33, on Channel 9 in Russian, and on the news website Walla as well as on radio on Kol Israel and Galei Zahal. It will last about 75 minutes.
Yad Vashem has a special webpage dedicated to Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, including information about the events and ceremonies as well as relevant educational materials. Additionally, information and films about the torchlighters and participants will be available online.
Yad Vashem will be closed to the public as of 12:00 noon on Wednesday, 4 May. It will re-open on Thursday, 5 May at 11:00 Â Â The Holocaust History Museum will be open to the public from 09:00. Throughout Holocaust Remembrance Day, 5 May, special guided tours and behind-the-scenes gatherings will be open to the public. The events will take place in Hebrew and are free of charge.
Yad Vashem continues to calls on the public to fill out Pages of Testimony to commemorate the names of Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Volunteers are available to help Holocaust survivors fill out Pages of Testimony. For more information please call: +972-2-6443111. Yad Vashem is also continuing the Gathering the Fragments campaign in an effort to rescue Holocaust-related documents, artifacts, photographs and art. To donate material to Yad Vashem. For information on how to donate please call +972-2-644 3888. Additionally, the Testimony Section of the Yad Vashem's Archives Division is continuing to interview and document video testimony of survivors. Yad Vashem staff can visit survivors in their homes and videotape their testimony. For more information or to schedule a session please call +972-6443131 or email testimonies@yadvashem.org.il.
Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, was established in 1953. Located in Jerusalem, it is dedicated to Holocaust commemoration, documentation, research and education. www.yadvashem.org
MEDIA ARRANGEMENTS
Entrance for Journalists to the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, 4 May 2016
ALL PRESS MUST PRE-REGISTER WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION AT YAD VASHEM Tel: 02-6443412 or Email: media.relations@yadvashem.org.il
YOU MUST BRING YOUR 2016 GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE CARD WITH YOU.
Shuttle Services will run from the Mt. Herzl Parking Lot starting at 18:00.
Private vehicles will not be admitted to Yad Vashem.
No firearms are permitted.
It is recommended to dress warmly.
Entrance for Journalists to the Wreath-Laying Ceremony on Thursday, 5 May 2016
Journalists are permitted to enter the site via shuttle buses available for the public departing from the Mt. Herzl parking lot starting at 07:30.
ENTRANCE FOR JOURNALISTS WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED WITH A VALID 2016 GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE CARD.
THERE WILL BE NO ENTRY TO THE CEREMONY AFTER 08:30.
The Wreath-Laying Ceremony on Thursday, 5 May 2016 will start promptly at 10:00 immediately following the siren in the presence of the President and Prime Minister,
Private vehicles will not be admitted to Yad Vashem.
No Firearms Permitted.
There will be a Pool Position during the wreath-laying ceremony AP Stills + Reuters TV.
The Yad Vashem Campus will be accessible to the public from 10:30 via free shuttle services departing from the Mt. Herzl Parking Lot until the hour of 20:00.
Attached are details of Holocaust Remembrance Day events at Yad Vashem.
Holocaust Remembrance Day
The public will provided with a rare opportunity to go “Behind-the-Scenes" at Yad Vashem. On Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, Yad Vashem will hold a series of gatherings for the general public, allowing participants to experience and appreciate the complexity and sensitivity of its work. Facilitated by Yad Vashem experts, participants will have access to documents and artifacts that are not on display year-round. These tours are conducted predominantly in Hebrew. Further details on the Yad Vashem website, in Hebrew. The only English language lecture will be given on the topic Making Memory Relevant: Explore & Discover Yad Vashem Online by Dana Porath, Director of the Internet Department, Communications Division at Yad Vashem.
Throughout the day, Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies will be running educational activities for groups, youth movements, pre-military academies, girls in National Service and participants in the "Masa Israel Journey" program.Â
A new online exhibition Children's Homes in France During the Holocaust, that tells the story of three children's homes in Chamonix, Izieu and Chabannes. The exhibition has just now been uploaded to the Yad Vashem website. Using images, videos and testimonies, Yad Vashem has designed an online exhibition to tells the stories of courageous Jews and non-Jews who risked everything with the hope of saving Jewish children. Their story is one of happiness and fear, joy and sadness, and life and death; all simultaneously experienced as they hoped to survive the Nazi German onslaught.
Program for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day
5 May 2016
10:00 Siren
10:02: Wreath-laying ceremony with the participation of Israel’s President, Prime Minister, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Supreme Court Justice, Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Chief of the General Staff, Chief of Police, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Mayor of Jerusalem, representatives of survivor and fighter organizations and delegations from throughout the country - Warsaw Ghetto Square
11:00 - 12:45: “Unto Every Person There is a Name” Recitation of Holocaust victims’ names by members of the public - Hall of Remembrance
12:00 - 14:30: Behind-the-Scenes at Yad Vashem- Open to the Public in Hebrew
Visitors to the Mount of Remembrance will have the opportunity to experience Yad Vashem, as it has never been seen before. Come and join us as Yad Vashem experts unveil original documents, photographs and artifacts to the Public for the first time. Tours will run every 30 minutes - availability is limited.
13:00: Main Memorial Ceremony - Hall of Remembrance
17:30: Ceremony for Youth Movements with the participation of the Education Minister Naftali Bennett and hundreds of members of the youth movements. Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev will speak followed by Holocaust survivor Marion Miller. Yitzhak Reichenbaum accompanied by youth movement participants will light the Memorial flame. The program will include a performance by Elai Botner and the Outsiders and the Youth Movement Choir led by Moshe Yosef, Master of Ceremony Eliana Tidhar. Yad Vashem is organizing the ceremony in conjunction with the Ministry of Education’s Youth Movement Council and Youth and Social Administration. The event will take place in the Valley of the Communities
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18:30 Gathering of the “Generation to Generation—Bearers of the Holocaust and Heroism Legacy” organization, Shalom Aleichem House, Tel Aviv, with the participation of Dr. Haim Gertner, Director of the Yad Vashem ArchivesRegistration: dorot.hahemshech@gmail.com or tel: +972-(0)2-6443822
