Israel begins marking Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) on Monday evening with official ceremonies across the country, including a state opening event at Yad Vashem and nationwide observances on Tuesday morning.
The state opening ceremony at Yad Vashem is set for 8 p.m. in Warsaw Ghetto Square and was pre-recorded due to the security situation. It will include speeches by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, along with the lighting of six memorial torches by Holocaust survivors.
The 2026 State Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day
A late-night event titled “Each Person Has a Song” will also be held at Yad Vashem.
On Tuesday morning at 10 a.m., a two-minute nationwide siren will sound across Israel, during which citizens are expected to stand in silence in memory of Holocaust victims.
Following the siren, an official wreath-laying ceremony will take place at Yad Vashem with participation from top Israeli officials, including the prime minister, the Knesset speaker, and the chief justice of the Supreme Court, alongside Holocaust survivors.
At 11 a.m., a public memorial event titled “Unto Every Person There Is a Name” will be held, during which victims’ names will be read aloud. A parallel recorded ceremony from the Knesset will be broadcast in the media.
Later in the morning, a public wreath-laying event will be open to visitors at Yad Vashem, followed by a state memorial service at 1 p.m.
The annual March of the Living will also take place on Tuesday at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site in Poland. Now in its 38th year, the march brings together Holocaust survivors and participants from around the world to honor the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
This year’s march will include about 50 survivors from Israel and abroad, joined by victims of antisemitic attacks from the United States, Britain, and Australia. They will lead a ceremony lighting a memorial torch for the fight against antisemitism, alongside international representatives and Jewish leaders.
The day of remembrance will conclude at 8 p.m. with a closing ceremony at the Museum of the Fights of the Ghettoes in Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta’ot, held without a live audience and broadcast online. Six Holocaust survivors will light memorial torches during the event, continuing the annual tradition of remembrance.