04 April 2021
Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Remembrance Day will be observed this year starting Wednesday evening, 7 April 2021 through Thursday, 8 April 2021. The official State Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day will take place on Wednesday, 7 April, at 20:00, in Warsaw Ghetto Square, Yad Vashem, on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. Israel’s President H.E. Mr. Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu will both deliver remarks at the Opening Ceremony. Yad Vashem’s Acting Chairman Ronen Plot will kindle the Memorial Torch. Roza Bloch will speak on behalf of the survivors.
During the ceremony, Holocaust survivors will light six torches. First torch: Shmuel Naar; second torch: Zehava Gealel; third torch: Yossi Chen; fourth torch: Halina Friedman; fifth torch: Sara Fishman; sixth torch: Manya Bigunov. 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 2021.
Israeli singers David Daor and Meshi Kleinstein, as well as the IDF Paratroopers’ Honor Guard, will participate in the ceremony, which will also include narrative pieces by Israeli actor Dean Miroshnikov. The moderator for the ceremony will be Hila Korach. The ceremony will last approximately 75 minutes.
As in past years, the ceremony will also feature a traditional memorial service, including the recitation of a chapter from Psalms by Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi David Lau. The Rishon LeZion, Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef will recite the Kaddish mourner's prayer, and Cantor Avraham Kirshenbaum will recite El Maleh Rahamim, the Jewish prayer for the souls of the martyrs.
Yad Vashem will broadcast the State Opening Ceremony live with simultaneous translation into English, French, Spanish, German, Hebrew and Russian via its websites in their respective languages. Additionally, for the first time, Yad Vashem will offer simultaneous translation in Arabic available on the Yad Vashem YouTube Channel in Arabic. The live feed will also be accessible via Facebook (only live in English and Hebrew).
The State Opening Ceremony will also be broadcast live on Israeli television – Channels 11, 12, 13, 9 and 20, as well as by Walla, N-12 and Y-Net, and via radio – Galei Tzahal and KAN Radio – and will last approximately 75 minutes.
Yad Vashem Online
Yad Vashem has created special mini-sites dedicated to Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day containing information about the events and ceremonies taking place throughout the day. Also included in the mini-sites are relevant educational materials and a new online exhibition entitled, “The Onset of Mass Murder: The Fate of Jewish Families in 1941.” Using photographs, documentation and testimonies from Yad Vashem's unrivalled collections, the exhibition tells the stories of the Jewish families in the wake of Operation Barbarossa, and their ultimate fate in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Eastern Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania and Yugoslavia.
On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, moments before the beginning of the State Opening Ceremony, Yad Vashem and Tzohar invite the public, as families, to take part in the "Generations Light the Way" initiative by lighting six memorial candles in memory of the six million victims of the Shoah, and reciting the traditional mourner's prayer "El Maleh Rahamim" and/or the poem "Nizkor – Let us Remember" by Holocaust survivor Abba Kovner.
Ongoing Campaigns
Yad Vashem continues to call 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 and their family members submit Pages of Testimony. Yad Vashem is also prolonging the nationwide Gathering the Fragments campaign in an effort to rescue more Holocaust-related documents, artifacts, photographs and artworks, and interview, document and record video testimonies of survivors. For more information on all of these ongoing commemorative projects: +972-2-6443888 or collect@yadvashem.org.il
Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day
MEDIA ARRANGEMENTSState Opening Ceremony7 April 2021
Entrance for journalists covering the official State Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, 7 April at 18:00, is in accordance with Israel's Ministry of Health guidelines.
SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED.
ALL PRESS MUST PRE-REGISTER WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION AT YAD VASHEM
PRESS ATTENDING THE CEREMONY MUST BRING AND SHOW THEIR 2021 GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE CARD, OFFICIAL GREEN PASS ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND ID – NO EXCEPTIONS.
Shuttle Services will run from the Mt. Herzl Parking Lot starting at 18:00.
Private vehicles will not be permitted to enter Yad Vashem.
No firearms are permitted.
It is recommended to dress warmly.
Yad Vashem has arranged Pool for International Media – Stills: UPI & SIPA.
Wreath Laying Ceremony8 April 2021
Entrance for journalists covering the Wreath-Laying Ceremony on Thursday, 8 April 2021, is in accordance with Israel's Ministry of Health guidelines.
ALL PRESS MUST PRE-REGISTER WITH THE COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION AT YAD VASHEM Tel: 02-6443412 or Email: simmy.allen@yadvashem.org.il
SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED
PRESS ATTENDING THE CEREMONY MUST BRING AND SHOW THEIR 2021 GOVERNMENT PRESS OFFICE CARD, OFFICIAL GREEN PASS ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND ID – NO EXCEPTIONS.
Shuttle Services will run from the Mt. Herzl Parking Lot starting at 07:30.
Private vehicles will not be permitted to enter Yad Vashem.
THERE WILL BE NO ENTRY TO THE CEREMONY AFTER 08:30.
The Wreath-Laying Ceremony on Thursday, 8 April 2021 will start promptly at 10:00 immediately following the siren,
No Firearms Permitted.
Yad Vashem has arranged Pool for International Media – Stills: AP & AFP.
10:00 Siren
10:02 Wreath-laying ceremony with the participation of the President of the State of Israel, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Knesset, President of the Supreme Court, representatives of survivor and fighter organizations and delegations from throughout the country—Warsaw Ghetto Square
11:00–13:45 “Unto Every Person There is a Name” Recitation of Holocaust victims’ names by members of the public—Hall of Remembrance (a similar event will take place in the Knesset in the presence of the Speaker of the Knesset)
11:00-15:15 "Behind-the-Scenes"
Throughout Holocaust Remembrance Day, special online lectures and virtual behind-the-scenes tours will be available to the public. The gatherings will be in Hebrew and are free of charge. For the full listing and times please check the Yad Vashem website in the section on Behind-the-Scenes (available only in Hebrew).
13:00 Main memorial ceremony—Hall of Remembrance
17:30 Ceremony for youth movements in the presence of the Minister of Education Yoav Galant. Acting Chairman of Yad Vashem Ronen Plot will offer remarks at the ceremony. Holocaust survivor Moshe Kaplan, born in Dąbrowica, Poland will speak to on behalf of the survivors. The Memorial Torch will be lit by Holocaust survivor Shaul Oren, born in Jaworzno, Poland, accompanied by members of the youth movement. Performances by singer Ron Buchnik and the band of the Youth Movements Council under the musical direction of Moishela Yosef. Moderator: Gaia Gur Aryeh. The event is organized by Yad Vashem in collaboration with the Social and Youth Administration and the Youth Movements Council in the Ministry of Higher and Complementary Education. —Warsaw Ghetto Square. Admission by personal invitation only
The Yad Vashem Campus will be accessible to the public from 10:30 via free shuttle services departing from the Mt. Herzl Parking Lot
The Mount of Remembrance will close to the public at 16:00
