Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Day this year will be observed on 11-12 April 2010. The following information is furnished by Yad Vashem.

Central Theme and Events at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem

The central theme for this year’s Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day is the Voice of the Survivors – who in their daily activities and creative endeavors honor the victims and strive to safeguard their memory for coming generations.

The official Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day will take place on Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 20:00, in Warsaw Ghetto Square, Yad Vashem, Mount of Remembrance, Jerusalem.

President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will speak. Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau Shlita, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council will kindle the Memorial Torch.  Hana Weiss will speak on behalf of the survivors.

During the ceremony, Holocaust survivors will light six torches. First torch: Eliezer Ayalon; second torch: Leo Luster; third torch: Sara Israeli; fourth torch: Hannah Gofrit, fifth torch: Baruch Shub; sixth torch: Jakob Zim.  During the ceremony, short videos of the torchlighters’ testimonies will be shown (produced and directed by Shlomo Hazan).

The traditional memorial service will take place during the ceremony.  The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yonah Metzger Shlita will recite Tehillim. Rishon L’Tzion Chief HaRav Shlomo Amar Shlita will recite Kaddish. Kel Ma’aleh Rahamim will be recited by Cantor Asher Hainowitz.

Participants in the ceremony include musician Gali Atari, the Ankor Choir, under the direction of Dafna Ben Yohanan, as well as the IDF Paratroopers’ Honor Guard. Narrative pieces: actor Lior Ashkenazi.  The evening’s MC will be Kobi Meidan.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on television on Channels 1, 2, 10 and 33, and channel 9 in Russian, and by radio on Kol Israel and Galei Zahal.  It will last about one hour and a quarter.

Yad Vashem will be closed to the public as of 12 noon on April 11.  It will re-open on Monday, April 12, at 8:00 a.m.

After the ceremony, at 22:00, there will be a symposium in Yad Vashem’s Auditorium entitled “Identity in Transit: The Individual and the Community Through the Lens of Time,” moderated by Ehud Graf, with the participation of Prof. Mordechai Zelkin, Rabbi David Stav, Artemis Meiron, Shneor Einam, and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, and guest artists “Oy Division”. The two-hour discussion is open to the public and will be broadcast live on Galei Tzahal radio.

On April 12, Holocaust Remembrance Day, at 15:30, the new exhibition, “Virtues of Memory: Six Decades of Holocaust Survivors’ Creativity” will open in Yad Vashem’s Exhibitions Pavilion.  The first of its kind exhibition showcases the creative works of some 300 Holocaust survivors whose artistic expressions of their Holocaust experiences and memories are housed at Yad Vashem.   Dozens of Holocaust survivors and their families will attend the opening.   The Exhibition opens to the public on April 13, 2010.

Yad Vashem is also launching its new website in Russian at www.yadvashem.org as well as a new Russian YouTube Channel.  The site contains comprehensive information about the Holocaust and hundreds of images, video testimonies, last letters, artwork and more.

Yad Vashem volunteers are available to assist Holocaust survivors in filling out Pages of Testimony as part of Yad Vashem’s Names Recovery Campaign.  To request assistance: 1-800-25-7777.  In addition, Yad Vashem calls on anyone who has in their possession documents, artifacts and photographs from the Holocaust, to donate them to Yad Vashem where they will be preserved for generations.

Information on Holocaust Remembrance Day, as well as online exhibits, educational materials, video testimony and more is available at www.yadvashem.org.