Yom HaShoah

🎉 🇮🇱 Israel • April 6, 2026

Days off: 1 days • Falls on Monday

Today is
July 28, 2026
Tuesday
Next Holiday
113days
113 days
Year Work Progress
ended
Yom HaShoah — holiday, Israel (April 6, 2026)

Yom HaShoah Description

Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, solemnly commemorating the six million Jews murdered by Nazi Germany during World War II. At 10:00 AM, an air-raid siren sounds across the entire country for two minutes, and everything stops — cars pull over on highways, pedestrians stand still, and workplaces pause in silent reflection. The official state ceremony takes place at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, attended by the President and Prime Minister. Radio and television stations broadcast Holocaust-related content exclusively. Government offices and banks close, and all places of entertainment are shut by law. The somber day connects Israel's very existence to the memory of the Holocaust.

📜 History & Origins

Yom HaShoah ve-HaGvurah (Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day) was established by the Knesset in 1953, the same year that created Yad Vashem. The date — 27 Nisan — was chosen to fall between the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising anniversary and Independence Day, deliberately linking memory of the six million murdered with the armed resistance and the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty. In 2026 it falls on April 6.

🎉 How It's Celebrated

At 10:00 AM a two-minute siren sounds nationwide and the country freezes: drivers halt on highways and step out of their cars, pedestrians stand still, and offices observe silence. The official state ceremony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, attended by the President and Prime Minister, includes the lighting of six torches for the six million murdered. Television and radio run Holocaust-themed programming, places of entertainment are closed by law, and flags fly at half-mast. Schools hold memorial assemblies with survivor testimony.

🍽️ Traditional Foods

Yom HaShoah has no festive foods — out of respect, many families keep meals plain. Some communities serve dishes from pre-war European Jewish cuisine or recipes recovered from ghettos and camps as an act of remembrance, and a custom has grown of eating hard-boiled eggs and lentils, the round foods of Jewish mourning.

← Previous Passover Next Yom HaAtzmaut →