Israeli people came to a peaceful pause while a siren sounded for two minutes throughout the streets of Israel, including Jerusalem and Netanya to commemorate the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during the Second World War. Holocaust Remembrance Day is an internationally recognised date, corresponding to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. In 2016, the national day of remembrance began on the evening of 4 May and ends on the evening of 5 May.
People stand still as a two-minute siren marking Holocaust Remembrance Day is sounded in JerusalemAmmar Awad/ Reuters
A ceremony was held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a poignant, yet defiant speech to those who attended. "The disaster that came upon our people must not happen again. On this occasion, in Jerusalem, our eternal capital I recommit: There will not be another Holocaust... Now this incitement is originating from the extreme Islam and the Arab world but in recent years it is joined by not less toxic incitement from the Western world: British parliament members, senior officials in Sweden and opinion leaders in France."
Israeli soldiers take part in a ceremony marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in JerusalemAmir Cohen/ ReutersBeach-goers stand still as a two-minute siren marking annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel is sounded in NetanyaBaz Ratner/ ReutersPeople stop and stand in silence on a highway in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv as sirens wailed across Israel for two minutes marking the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocideJack Guez/ AFPIsraelis stop and stand in silence in the centre of Jerusalem, as sirens wailed across Israel for two minutes marking the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocideMenahem Kahana/ AFPIsraeli soldiers get prepared before the start of the ceremony during a ceremony marking the Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in JerusalemGil Cohen-Magen/ AFPIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in JerusalemGil Cohen-Magen/ AFPIsraeli soldiers stand to attention before the start of a ceremony marking the Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in JerusalemGil Cohen-Magen/ AFPIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in JerusalemGil Cohen-Magen/ AFP
Throughout the 24 hours, television stations devoted their broadcasts to documentaries and interviews with survivors. Holocaust survivor Eliezer Lev Zion, who was born in Germany in 1927 and released from Ardeche detention camp in France in 1940, spoke at a Jewish National Fund ceremony at the B'nai B'rith Martyrs' Forest in Jerusalem. In 1951, six million trees were planted in the forest to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.
On 5 May, the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum unveiled original artifacts which are not usually displayed to the public. The items included a remnant of a Nazi flag that Holocaust survivor Yehudith Aufrichtig and her fellow inmates embroidered with their names and signatures, when they were imprisoned inside the all- female Ravensbruek concentration camp in Ravensbruek, Berlin.
Michael Tal, Director of the Artifacts Department in Yad Vashem, holds a remnant of a Nazi flag that Holocaust survivor Yehudith Aufrichtig and her fellow inmates embroidered with their names and signaturesAmir Cohen/ ReutersMichael Tal, Director of the Artifacts Department in Yad Vashem, holds a shoe belonging to a child Holocaust victim, during an event unveiling original artifacts to the public which are not on general displayAmir Cohen/ ReutersJoseph Kleinman, an 86-year-old Israeli who survived Auschwitz and Dachau Nazi death camps and lived to testify against Adolf Eichmann, wears his hat from Auschwitz as he attends the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in JerusalemGali Tibbon/ AFPIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in JerusalemGali Tibbon/ AFPA Second World War veteran stands next to wreaths during the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in JerusalemGali Tibbon/ AFPHolocaust survivor Eliezer Lev Zion, born in Germany in 1927 and released from Ardeche detention camp in France in 1940, speaks to Israeli border policemen during a Jewish National Fund ceremony marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, at the B'nai B'rith Martyrs' Forest in JerusalemRonen Zvulun/ ReutersPeople stand still as a two-minute siren marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel is sounded at Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in JerusalemAmir Cohen/ ReutersHolocaust survivor Eliezer Lev Zion, born in Germany in 1927 and released from Ardeche detention camp in France in 1940, speaks to Israeli border policemen during a Jewish National Fund ceremony marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, at the B'nai B'rith Martyrs' Forest in JerusalemRonen Zvulun/ Reuters
According to the report by the Fund for the Welfare of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, fewer than 200,000 Holocaust survivors lived in Israel in 2015, with some 40 of them dying each day. Meanwhile, thousands of people took part in the March of the Living, as they walked through Auschwitz concentration camp, waving the Israeli national flag.
Israelis school children look at a model of Warsaw Ghetto displayed at the 'From Holocaust to Revival' Museum in Kibbutz Yad Mordechai in southern Israel on the eve of the Holocaust Remembrance DayMenahem Kahana/ AFPPeople stand still near wreaths as a two-minute siren marking Holocaust Remembrance Day is sounded at Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in JerusalemAmir Cohen/ ReutersPrisoners take part in a ceremony marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel at Rimonim PrisonNir Elias/ ReutersPeople walk in front of a gate with the words Arbeit macht frei"(Work sets you free) in the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, PolandKacper Pempel/ ReutersPeople stop and stand in silence on a highway in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv as sirens wailed across Israel for two minutes marking the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocideJack Guez/ AFPPeople wave Israeli flags in front of a gate with the words Arbeit macht frei (Work sets you free) in the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, PolandKacper Pempel/ ReutersA Holocaust survivor lays a flower next to the name of former concentration camp during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in JerusalemAmir Cohen/ ReutersPeople wave Israeli flags in front of a gate with the words Arbeit macht frei (Work sets you free) in the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, PolandPeople stop and stand in silence on a highway in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv as sirens wailed across Israel for two minutes marking the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocideJack Guez/ AFPPeople stop and stand in silence on a highway in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, as sirens wailed across Israel for two minutes marking the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocideJack Guez/ AFPIsraeli border policemen stand still as a two-minute siren is sounded during a Jewish National Fund ceremony marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, at the B'nai B'rith Martyrs' Forest in JerusalemRonen Zvulun/ ReutersWreaths are seen next to a sculpture during a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in JerusalemAmir Cohen/ Reuters
