A day to remember the victims of the Holocaust, Yom Hashoah – Holocaust Memorial Day, is observed every year. The official day was established in 1959 and takes place on 27 Nisan (Hebrew month), a week before Yom Ha’ Atzmaut – Israel’s Independence Day.

In Israel, flags are flown at half mast and there is a state ceremony held at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes Remembrance Authority. At 10 am, air-raid sirens are sounded for two minutes and all activity comes to a halt.

Outside of Israel, the day is marked with ceremonies and programmes that include the lighting of memorial candles. Jewish communities get together and solemnly observe this day and remember the six million Jews who were murdered.

Hong Kong’s Jewish community held their Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony on 15 April at the Jewish Community Centre. The event was organised by the Hong Kong Holocaust and Tolerance Centre (HKHTC). The theme of this year’s ceremony was Who Will Carry the Word?

As in previous events, members from all of Hong Kong’s Jewish congregations were represented. In attendance was Sagi Karni, Consul General of Israel to Hong Kong.

The evening programme included an opening address by Simon Goldberg, Director of Education, HKHTC. This was followed by Elsa high-school students displaying several placards depicting numbers of lost communities in Europe that had been wiped out the tens of thousands and the numbers that had survived in the few hundreds.