Israel will mark Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day beginning on the evening of Wednesday, April 23, and continuing through Thursday, April 24. This year’s theme is, “Out of the Depths: The Anguish of Liberation and Rebirth.”
The state opening ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. on April 23 in Yad Vashem’s Warsaw Ghetto Square on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will deliver remarks at the ceremony.
Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan will kindle the Memorial Torch.
Singers Aya Korem and Benaia Barabi will perform musical interludes at the ceremony, which will also include narrative pieces by actor Yedidia Vital. News anchor Almaz Mangisto will emcee the event.
The ceremony will feature a traditional memorial service, including a recitation of a chapter from Psalms by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Kalman Ber.
Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Yosef will recite the Kaddish mourner’s prayer, and Holocaust survivor Yehuda Hauptman will recite El Maleh Rahamim, a prayer for the souls of the martyrs.
The live broadcast of the opening ceremony will include simultaneous
translation into English, Hebrew, French, Spanish, German and Russian.
Yad Vashem is partnering with the Our 6 Million organization in an annual candle-lighting tradition. On April 24, the public is invited to light a memorial candle in the Warsaw Ghetto Square from 11 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.