Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day
Yom HaShoah occurs each year on the 27th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan (sometime in April or May). This date was selected by the Israeli Parliament on April 12, 1951. The original proposal was to hold Yom HaShoah on the 14th of Nisan, the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (April 19, 1943), but this was problematic because the 14th of Nisan is the day immediately before the Jewish holiday of Passover. The date was moved to the 27th of Nisan, which is eight days before Israeli Independence Day. There is no institutionalized ritual for Yom HaShoah, but generally memorial candles are lit and the Kaddish, the prayer for the departed, is recited.
Days of Remembrance
The United States Congress established the Days of Remembrance as our nation's annual commemoration of the Holocaust. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is responsible for leading the nation in commemorating the Days of Remembrance, and for encouraging and sponsoring appropriate observances throughout the United States.
The Days of Remembrance run from the Sunday before Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) through the following Sunday. Days of Remembrance are observed by state and local governments, military bases, workplaces, schools, churches, synagogues and civic centers.
The Birmingham Holocaust Education Center (BHEC) and the Alabama Holocaust Commission (AHC) officially commemorate the Holocaust during the Days of Remembrance.
For more information about these events held each spring, refer to the Upcoming Events section of this website.
Web Links
- Days of Remembrance, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Video: May 2008, State of Alabama Days of Remembrance, Montgomery
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
January 27th marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), an annual day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi era. Every member nation of the U.N. has an obligation to honor the memory of Holocaust victims and develop educational programs as part of an international resolve to help prevent future acts of genocide. The U.N. resolution that created IHRD rejects denial of the Holocaust and condemns discrimination and violence based on religion or ethnicity.
To commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center (BHEC) has developed Curriculum Frameworks for study groups interested in devoting this day to learn more about the events of the Holocaust.
Curriculum Frameworks
A study of individuals, non-Jews, who risked their lives to save Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe and the lessons we learn from their actions.
Web Links
- Remembrance and Beyond, United Nations Outreach Program
- Liberation of Auschwitz, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum