Declaration of Remembrance – September 2003
That the generation to come – the children to be born – may know and should arise and tell their children.
Psalms 78:6
We see education, research and imparting the memory, as essential parts of strengthening the chain linking the generations and in firmly grounding the commitment to the existence of the Jewish people. We commit ourselves to continuing to infuse the memory of the Holocaust with content and meaning. We will do all within our power to extract hope from the pain, and faith from remembrance:
- Hope for a world that will live by the commandment:
Thou shalt not kill
- Hope for a world that will fulfil the command
Thou shalt not stand by the blood of thy neighbour
- Hope for a world that will inscribe on its banner a struggle against racism and antisemitism in all its forms
- Hope that the perpetual memorial flame will stand as an eternal beacon and as a warning sign – never again
- Faith in the human spirit and in the eternal values of human civilisation
‘The Declaration of Remembrance was signed at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on September 17th, 2003’
Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ (Yom HaShoah)
If we wish to live and to bequeath life to our offspring, if we believe that we are to pave the way to the future, then we must first of all not forget.
Prof. Ben Zion Dinur, Yad Vashem, 1956
Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah in Hebrew) is a national day of commemoration in Israel, on which the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust are memorialised. It is a solemn day, beginning at sunset on the 27th of the month of Nisan and ending the following evening.
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, was established in 1953 by an act of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset). Since its inception, Yad Vashem has been entrusted with documenting the history of the Jewish people in the Holocaust period, preserving the memory and story of each of the six million victims, and imparting the legacy of the Holocaust for generations to come through its archives, library, museums and recognition of the Righteous Among the Nations.
Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January
If understanding is impossible, knowing is imperative, because what happened could happen again.
Primo Levi, Holocaust survivor, 1979
Holocaust Memorial Day was created on 27 January 2000, when representatives from 46 governments around the world met in Stockholm to discuss Holocaust education, remembrance and research.
It is a time to remember the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust.
Holocaust Memorial Day is a time when we seek to learn the lessons of the past and recognise that genocide does not just take place on its own – it’s a steady process which can begin if discrimination, racism and hatred are not checked and prevented.
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