Following the sounding of a two-minute siren at 10 AM today in memory of the more than six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, memorial ceremonies were held today throughout Israel and in former death camps in Europe. Knesset Members and public figures read aloud names of some of the victims in what is known as "Every Person Has a Name."
Some 3,000 youths from Israel and elsewhere took part in the traditional March of the Living between Auschwitz and Birkenau today. The march was led by President Moshe Katzav, Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski, and March of the Living founder Likud MK Avraham Hirschson. The participants held a special ceremony in the Jewish section of Krakow, Poland, last night, featuring a cantata by students of the religious girls' school HaRoeh in Ramat Gan. The policy is that only groups that also arrive in Israel may take part in the March of the Living in Poland.
Today's Holocaust Day commemorations are themed, "Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust - Sixty Years Since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising." One thousand youths took part in a ceremony at Yad Vashem this afternoon, and Holocaust Day commemorations will conclude, as always, at Kibbutz Lochamei HaGetaot (Ghetto Fighters), with the participation of IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon.
Six survivors, all of whom took part in resistance efforts, lit six torches during last night's official ceremony, symbolizing the more than six million Jews who were lost in the Holocaust. The stories of the heroic six can be read at in a separate Arutz-7 article.