JERUSALEM (Realist English). In 2026, Israel commemorates the victims of the Holocaust in April, linking Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) to the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The memorial days fell on April 13–14.
In Israel, Yom HaShoah is not just a date on the calendar but a nationwide pause, a moment of absolute national unity. Traditions formed over decades have turned it into a powerful ritual of collective memory.
A nationwide halt
At 10:00 a.m., life across the country comes to a standstill for two minutes. Work stops, people freeze in place on the streets, and drivers pull over and step out of their vehicles to stand and honor the six million. This is a voluntary ritual that Israelis observe without legal compulsion.
It is important to note that the mourning siren is not confused with an air raid warning — it sounds continuously, unlike the rising and falling tone of the alert siren.
State ceremony at Yad Vashem
The main memorial events take place at Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem. On the evening of April 13, an opening ceremony is held with the participation of the president and prime minister, where six torches are lit — in memory of the six million murdered. In 2026, due to the war with Iran, the ceremony was not held live but was pre‑recorded for security reasons.
Wreath‑laying ceremony
On the morning of April 14, after the siren, a state wreath‑laying ceremony takes place at the memorial in Yad Vashem, attended by the president, prime minister, and other officials.
Reading of names (“Every person has a name”)
At 11:00 a.m., the reading of Holocaust victims’ names begins at the Knesset and at Yad Vashem. This event, which also takes place in schools and communities, helps convey the scale of the tragedy by restoring individuality to each victim.
Closure of entertainment venues
During the mourning period, restaurants, cafes, cinemas, and other places of entertainment are closed across the country.
Connection to the present
In 2026, special emphasis was placed on parallels between Holocaust history and current events: in his speeches, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linked the necessity of the war with Iran to preventing a “second Holocaust.” The ceremonies also highlighted the role of the family during the Holocaust and gave examples of survivors who sacrificed their lives for the State of Israel, while their descendants fell heroically in battle.
Holocaust Remembrance Day 2026 showed that this topic remains acute and relevant, becoming a tool not only for preserving history but also for political rhetoric
From January 14 to February 4, a large‑scale “Week of Remembrance” took place in Russia, reaching millions of people, while Western countries and Israel held their own memorial events, once again underscoring the lessons of the Holocaust against the backdrop of modern military conflicts. In Russia, it was marked by an unprecedented scale of events, emphasizing national unity and memory.
In Israel, it became another argument in justifying the military campaign against Iran. Despite differences, all events shared a common goal: to remember a tragedy that has no statute of limitations and to pass this experience on to future generations so that the horrors of the past are never repeated.
In 2026, events in the Russian Federation covered 80 regions, 328 municipalities, and more than 3,200 institutions. More than 400,000 people took part.
The date of January 27 was chosen for a reason. On that day in 1945, soldiers of the 1st Ukrainian Front of the Red Army under Marshal Ivan Konev liberated the most terrible Nazi death camp — Auschwitz-Birkenau (Oświęcim). The liberators witnessed horrific evidence of genocide: gas chambers, crematoria, and 7,500 emaciated prisoners whom the Nazis had not had time to kill.
Poland is the site of the most terrible extermination camps: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Sobibor, and Majdanek. Every year (usually in April), thousands of young Jews from around the world march from Auschwitz to Birkenau to honor the victims. In 2026, the March of the Living took place on April 14, as part of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
According to various estimates, between 1.5 and 4 million people died in Auschwitz during the war, most of them Jews. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution establishing the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The Secretary‑General delivers an annual message, reminding of the need to fight hatred, anti‑Semitism, and xenophobia worldwide. In 2026, the theme of the message was “Memory and Human Dignity: Protecting the Future from the Distortion of the Past.”
