The State Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day, which was pre-recorded without an audience in Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, will be broadcast on Monday, 20 April 2020 at 20:00 (Israel time).

Yad Vashem will transmit the ceremony complete with translation (except for the remarks of the President and Prime Minister) into English, French, German, Russian and Spanish on Yad Vashem's website.

The event will be broadcast here on Arutz Sheva.

The ceremony will comprise traditional elements, including pre-recorded video remarks by Israel’s President H.E. Mr. Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu. Yad Vashem Council Chairman and Holocaust survivor Rabbi Israel Meir Lau will kindle the Memorial Torch. Naomi Cassuto will speak on behalf of the survivors.

During the ceremony, six torches will be lit, and stories of the six Holocaust survivors will be presented via short videos.

Israeli singers Shiri Maimon and Shai Tzabari will participate in the ceremony, which will also include narrative pieces written by Holocaust survivor Jack Werber, recited by Israeli actor Zohar Straus. The MC for the ceremony will be Channel 12 News anchor Danny Cushmaro.

The ceremony will feature a traditional memorial service, including the recitation of a chapter from Psalms by Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi David Lau. The Rishon LeZion, Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef will recite the Kaddish mourner's prayer, and Cantor Daniel Dahan will recite El Maleh Rahamim, the Jewish prayer for the souls of the martyrs.

The ceremony will last about 75 minutes.

In addition to the broadcast of the ceremony, Yad Vashem will upload a special mini-site dedicated to Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2020. This mini-site comprises relevant content, including a special online exhibition related to the Central Theme entitled, "Rescue by Jews: 'One for All,'" as well as relevant educational materials.

On the following day, Holocaust Remembrance Day, 21 April 2020, there will be a two-minute siren that will sound across the country at 10:00 (Israel time). On this day, at Yad Vashem, the traditional Wreath-Laying Ceremony will take place in the Warsaw Ghetto Square at the base of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Monument in a different format and without an audience.