Israel Comes to Halt During Siren To Remember Holocaust Victims

Israel came to a standstill as a two-minute-long siren sounded throughout the country on Thursday morning in memory of the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II. Israelis began marking the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom Hashoah, on Wednesday night, with a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem. A wreath-laying ceremony took place at Yad Vashem on Thursday following the siren.

During the siren, most Israelis stop and stand still in their tracks with their heads bowed, and drivers stop their cars – even on the highway – and exit their cars to stand at attention. Ceremonies are held throughout the country including at schools and public institutions, including the “Unto Every Person There is a Name” ceremony at the Knesset, an official annual event during which lawmakers publicly read the names of Holocaust victims.

Bennett alluded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine during his address on Wednesday night but noted that the Holocaust was a unique event. “The Holocaust is an unprecedented event in human history. I take the trouble to say this because as the years pass, more and more serious events are compared to the Holocaust,” Bennett said. “But no, even the most serious wars today are not the Holocaust and are not like the Holocaust. No event in history, cruel as it may have been, compares to the destruction of Europe’s Jews at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators.”