On Thursday morning at 10 a.m., public life in Israel came to a halt for two minutes. A nationwide siren sounded, during which pedestrians stood still, drivers got out of their vehicles, and public transportation stopped — a collective moment of remembrance for the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust.
This moment of silence is part of Israel’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yom HaShoah, which has been observed since 1951 on the 27th of Nissan. The tradition of the nationwide siren began in the early 1960s and has since become one of Israel’s most powerful national rituals — a moment that unites the entire country in silent memory and reflection.
The official state ceremony took place on the eve of Yom HaShoah at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. Holocaust survivors, government representatives, diplomats, and citizens gathered there to light memorial candles and read out the names of victims. Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife Michal, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, participated in the ceremony.
In his speech, President Herzog emphasized the responsibility to keep the memory alive and to stand firmly against antisemitism in all its forms. The Holocaust, Herzog said, is not only part of Jewish history but also a warning for all humanity.
A central part of Yom HaShoah is also the ceremony “Lechol Ish Yesh Shem” (לכל איש יש שם, “Every Person Has a Name”), held on the day itself — today, Thursday — traditionally in the Knesset and at various other locations across the country. During this ceremony, the names of Holocaust victims are read aloud to restore identity and dignity to each individual who was murdered. Initiated by Yad Vashem in 1989, this reading of the names has become one of the most moving elements of the day of remembrance, observed throughout Israel today.
The day serves not only to honor the victims but also as a reminder to continue the fight against antisemitism and hatred in the present.
