Yom HaShoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day

It was originally proposed to hold Holocaust Remembrance Day on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the ecclesiastical year in the Jewish calendar. This is the anniversary of the ghetto uprising in Warsaw, which occurred on April 19, 1943, in the Gregorian calendar. However, the 14th day of Nisan is the day before the start of Passover (Pesach) and the 27th day was chosen instead. This is eight days before Israel's Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzma'ut). Holocaust Remembrance Day has been observed in Israel since 1959. The date of Yom HaShoah may be moved forward or backwards, so that it does not fall on Friday or Saturday.

Yom HaShoah is not universally recognized or observed. Some groups remember the victims of the Holocaust on other days of mourning, many of which predate World War II. Examples are the ninth day of the month of Av, known as Tisha B'Av and which falls in July of August of the Gregorian calendar, and the 10th day of the month of Tevet, known as Asarah b'Tevet and which falls in December or January of the Gregorian calendar. Other groups criticize the day because it does not commemorate the lives of non-Jewish people who died in the Holocaust.