08 April 2010
The central theme for this year’s Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day is the Voice of the Survivors – who in their daily activities and creative endeavors honor the victims and strive to safeguard their memory for coming generations.
The official Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day will take place on Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 20:00, in Warsaw Ghetto Square, Yad Vashem, Mount of Remembrance, Jerusalem. Israel’s President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak. Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council will kindle the Memorial Torch. Hana Weiss will speak on behalf of the survivors.
During the ceremony, Holocaust survivors will light six torches. First torch: Eliezer Ayalon; second torch: Leo Luster; third torch: Sara Israeli; fourth torch: Hannah Gofrit, fifth torch: Baruch Shub; sixth torch: Jakob Zim. During the ceremony, short videos of the torchlighters’ testimonies will be shown (produced and directed by Shlomo Hazan). The traditional memorial service will take place during the ceremony. The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yonah Metzger will recite Psalms. The Rishon Lezion Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Amar will recite Kaddish. El Ma’aleh Rahamim, a Jewish prayer for the souls of the martyrs, will be
recited by Cantor Asher Hainowitz.
Participants in the ceremony include musician Gali Atari, the Ankor Choir, under the direction of Dafna Ben Yohanan, as well as the IDF Paratroopers’ Honor Guard. Narrative pieces: actor Lior Ashkenazi. The evening’s MC will be Kobi Meidan. The ceremony will be broadcast live on television on Channels 1, 2, 10 and 33, and channel 9 in Russian, and by radio on Kol Israel and Galei Zahal. It will last about one hour and a quarter.
Yad Vashem will be closed to the public as of 12 noon on April 11. It will re-open on Monday, April 12, at 8:00 a.m.
