By: Ariel Roitman, FSWC Educator

This year, Yom HaShoah – the Hebrew name for Holocaust Remembrance Day – falls on May 5/6, commemorating the six million Jewish lives lost at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust.

People often confuse Yom HaShoah with International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), which takes place annually on January 27 likely due to its wide recognition among nations worldwide.

But what is the difference between these two dates? Why even have two of them?

Yom HaShoah is Israel’s official day of national remembrance of the Holocaust. Unlike IHRD which follows the Gregorian calendar, the date of Yom HaShoah follows the Hebrew calendar, falling on the 27^th of the Hebrew month Nissan.

In Israel, on Yom HaShoah, places of entertainment are closed, and most media broadcasts usually are devoted to the Holocaust. As with other memorial days in Israel, on Yom HaShoah a siren will sound, prompting the whole country to stop for a moment of respectful silence. Even traffic comes to a standstill as drivers exit their vehicles to stand for the siren’s two-minute duration.

Interestingly, the first official Yom HaShoah, which was instituted by the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) took place in 1951, almost 60 years before the first commemoration of IHRD which was only instituted in 2005 by the United Nations.

While IHRD is observed on the anniversary of the day the Soviet Army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, Yom HaShoah is marked on the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943. The former highlights freedom and Jewish release from bondage by foreign rescuers. The latter draws attention to the courage and power of Jewish resistance despite the ultimate failure of the uprising.  

To deepen your discussion with students, have them consider:

·      What is the purpose of memorial days? How do we place meaning on them?

·      What are the parallel and/or contrasting significance between IHRD and Yom HaShoah? What do these two dates choose to memorialize?