Yom HaShoah

Source

Yom Hashoah is the day the Jewish calendar has set aside as Memorial Day for the victims of the Holocaust during WWII. It occurs on the 17th of Nissan, a week after Passover ends and a week before Yom Hazikaron. The date was set in 1951 by the Israeli Parliament. The full name (Yom HaShoah Ve-Hageurah) was adopted in 1953 and translates to "Day of remembrance of  the Holocaust and the Heroism.

Historical

Back in the 1950s, education about the Holocaust primarily centered on the suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. Since then, there has been a shift to include how some resisted being tormented by the Nazis.

The day hasn't been embraced by all in the Jewish community. Some Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbis have refused to recognize the day, but they haven't formally rejected the holiday either.

Source

Observance

In Israel, at sundown on Yom Hashoah and again at 11 am, a siren sounds throughout Israel to stop traffic and pedestrians for 2 minutes of silence. Also on the day, radio and television programs in Israel have some connection to the Holocaust and how it affected the Jewish people, including interviews with survivors.

In North America, the day is observed by Jews in both the synagogue and the Jewish community as a whole. Talks from survivors, educational programs, vigils, songs, reading, etc are all ways different Jewish communities outside of Israel choose to commemorate the day. Since 1979, there have been civil ceremonies in Washington D.C. to commemorate the day.

Communities aren't held to the rituals that have been observed in the past either. Every community is open to develop new rituals, even rituals that haven't been observed in any community before.

Opinion

If I may stray and give my opinion, this is a day that I think should be commemorated worldwide by Jews and non-Jews alike. It marks a part of our history as a species that I believe we should be ashamed of (as a species) and that I believe we have to learn to understand so that we can ensure that nothing like it ever happens again. When I say understand, I mean not just understand what did happen, but what led to it happening, right down to ALL factors that made it possible in the first place, including the scapegoating of Jews that made it possible for people who would normally have been against all of it to be able to justify actions taken during the Holocaust, from making Jews wear the Star of David on their clothes, to the murder of Jews simply for being Jewish.

As a result of that, in my opinion, talks and interviews with survivors and educational programs are the best ways to commemorate the day.

Sources

• myjewishlearning.com
• jewishvirtuallibrary.org

Yom Hashoah

• reformjudaism.org - includes a link to songs/prayers and a glossary

The Holocaust

• history.com
• Holocaust Memorial Museum including it's pages on the causes and antisemitism
• annefrankguide.net
• Calvin College archive of Nazi propaganda