24 April State ceremony opening Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day in Warsaw Ghetto Square, in the presence of President Moshe Katzav and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Holocaust survivors from Israel and abroad, state dignitaries, Righteous Among the Nations and some two thousand participants. Prof. Walter Zwi Bacharach spoke on behalf of the survivors and Prof. Szewach Weiss kindled the Memorial Torch.

Holocaust Remembrance Day 2006 Torchlighters

25 April Wreath-laying ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day with the participation of the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Knesset, the President of the Supreme Court, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency, the Chief of General Staff, the Chief of Police, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, the Mayor of Jerusalem, representatives of survivor organizations, school children and delegations from all over the country. Other Remembrance Day events and ceremonies included: Unto Every Person There is a Name–recitation of Holocaust Victims’ names in the Hall of Remembrance; a memorial ceremony for former members of the Jewish resistance in France; a screening of Holocaust-related films in Yad Vashem’s Visual Center; Boulevard des Misères–a memorial concert for Dutch Jews who perished in the Holocaust; and a ceremony for youth movements in the Valley of the Communities, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport’s Youth and Social Administration and Youth Movement Council, attended by hundreds of youth movement members and representatives of student and youth councils from around the country.

Holocaust Remembrance Day 2006 Ceremony for Youth Movements, Valley of the Communities

26 April Memorial evening for the Sephardic communities of the Balkans annihilated during the Holocaust, in Yad Vashem’s Educational Center, Givatayim (Beit Wolhyn), in cooperation with the Organization of Greek Concentration Camp Survivors headed by Moshe Ha’Elyon, the Organization of Yugoslavian Immigrants represented by former Chairperson Miriam Aviezer, and the Organization for Macedonian Immigrants’ Next Generations headed by Moshe Testa. Event participants included Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel Chairman Noah Flug.

4 May Righteous Among the Nations ceremony posthumously honoring Jana Sudova of the Czech Republic, who gave shelter to a group of young Jews in her home, including Jakob Silberstein. The award and medal were presented to Jana’s daughter, Anna Gerlova of the Czech Republic, by Director of the Department for the Righteous Among the Nations Dr. Mordecai Paldiel. Some 50 people were present at the ceremony, including Silberstein’s family and friends.

9 May Ceremony marking the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, at Yad Vashem’s Monument to the Jewish Soldiers and Partisans, in the presence of Immigration and Absorption Minister Zeev Boim and Avner Shalev, and with one thousand participants including veterans and disabled veterans (most of them immigrants from the CIS), partisans, Yishuv volunteers, ambassadors and military attachés of the Allied countries, and officers and soldiers from the IDF Liaison Division.

10 May Conference marking the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps and ghettos in the former Soviet Union, in cooperation with the Organization of Concentration Camp and Ghetto Survivors in Israel, and in the presence of Yad Vashem Director-General Natan Eitan and Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel Chairman Noah Flug.

18 May Event marking the publication of the Encyclopedia of the Righteous Among the Nations: Italy (Yad Vashem and Mondadori), in cooperation with the Institute of Italian Culture, Tel Aviv, the Italian Embassy in Israel, Irgun Olei Italia and the Organization of Italian Jews. Some two hundred Holocaust survivors and Italian immigrants participated in the event, including Avner Shalev, Italian Ambassador to Israel H.E. Mr. Sandro de Bernardin, Encyclopedia chief editor Prof. Israel Gutman, Italian edition editor Dr. Liliana Picciotto of Milan, Irgun Olei Italia President Claudia Amati, and Encyclopedia author Dr. Bracha Rivlin. A particularly moving speech was made by Shoshana Evron (née Cassuto), who, along with her brother, was rescued by Righteous Among the Nations in Italy. The event was hosted by Dr. Simonetta Della Setta, Director of the Institute of Italian Culture, Tel Aviv.

30 May Commemorative event and annual gathering of Carpatho-Russian survivors and immigrants and members of the next generations in Israel, with some three hundred participants. Speakers included Carpatho-Russian survivor organization chair Tuvia Klein, Dr. Bracha Rivlin of Yad Vashem’s Encyclopedia of the Communities, Dr. Ilana Rosen of Ben Gurion University, and Dr. Moshe Avital.

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