Israelis find creative ways to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day

Israelis attended no public Holocaust remembrance ceremonies tonight. The main annual event taking place at the Yad Vashem memorial square and aired on public television was recorded ahead of time with no public participation. Addressing Israelis from his office, President Reuven Rivlin spoke this evening at length about solidarity in the time of the Holocaust, calling on Israelis, world leaders and world citizens to show human solidarity against the coronavirus threat.

With mass gatherings still strictly forbidden by measures to slow the pandemic, Israelis are marking Holocaust Remembrance Day differently this time around. Tomorrow, April 21, at 10:00 in the morning, the sirens will sound as they do every year for a minute of silence. Normally, everything in Israel comes to a halt on that moment, with cars stopping on the shoulders of roads and drivers getting out of their vehicles to stand while the sirens sound. This year, people are called to come out to their balconies and stand there for the minute of silence, sharing the significant moment with whoever is around.

Some organizations working for the welfare of Holocaust survivors called on Israelis to follow this minute of silence by singing Israel’s national anthem Hatikva in a show of solidarity with the many elderly survivors confined at home in these difficult times, as their loneliness is ever greater under confinement. The Amcha association, which provides mental health and social support services for Holocaust survivors, has called on Israelis to bring signs to their balconies reading, "Remembering from close by, embracing from far."

Maintaining social distancing, students in the southern city of Ashdod held a ceremony this evening outside the windows of an old-age residence that is home to Holocaust survivors.