As the siren sounds across Israel, life comes to a halt for a moment as a people mourns those murdered and offers prayers in their name.

Flags are lowered at the Foreign Ministry and elsewhere out of respect for the day

The siren sounds at 10 AM - cars pull over and passengers get out and stand in silence

Mid-siren in front of the Binyanei HaUmah Convention Center

Even a worker atop the new light-rail bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem stops and meditates

Kanfei Nesharim Road in Givat Shaul
(Photo: Pinchas Orbach)

The siren ends and life goes on

People take the day to visit the graves of relatives who survived the Holocaust and were later buried in Israel

Many survivors, when they passed on, had the names of their graveless relatives inscribed on their tombstones to provide a place for their families to mourn

Yom HaShoah marks the beginning of the week leading up to Yom Haatzmaut (Independance Day) and vendors begin selling car-flags at busy intersections

Click here for photos of Ben Gurion Airport's bustling terminal before, during and after the siren sounded.

(Photos: Ezra HaLevi)