Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance day, will take place on April 23. The Indianapolis Hebrew congregation will host an observance and remembrance ceremony on Apr. 23 at 7 p.m. while the Jewish Community Center of Indianapolis will host a brief ceremony on April 24 at noon.

For junior Solomon Seif, remembering the Holocaust is extremely important. Seif said this is in part because of his Jewish identity, but also because he had family flee from Nazi-occupied Lithuania during the Holocaust. 

 “There’s documents of (my great-grandfather) just traveling straight to France and then fleeing to the United States,” Seif said. “My grandmother tells a story that he got into a trunk suitcase and stowed away on a ship to get to the United States.” 

Seif said he has focused a large part of his life to understanding the Holocaust, due to the importance of the genocide for both his familial history and the international Jewish community at large.

“I’ve learned about (the Holocaust). We read about it (in Hebrew) and watch about it. I’ve been to Yad Vashem (Israel’s official Holocaust memorial). I’ve been to the Holocaust Remembrance Museum in Washington D.C., so it’s sort of just like my whole life has sort of been (focused on) holistic Holocaust remembrance,” he said.

Hebrew teacher Nina Price said while Yom Hashoah memorializes the six million Jews who lost their lives during the Holocaust, it also celebrates the resilience and bravery of the victims and survivors.

“Yom Hashoah is the name (for) Holocaust Memorial Day, but actually it’s a little bit more. (With) Israel, when they think about Yom Hashoah, they also look at the heroism,” Price said. “The date that (Yom Hashoah is) chosen on on the Hebrew calendar is the 27th of Nissan, and that’s intentionally a week after Passover, and on the beginning of Passover is when the Warsaw Ghetto uprising happened. And so the idea of recognizing heroism looks at the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and saying (the date is for) not just the people who are burned up, but it’s actually recognizing all the resiliency and all of the amazing stories, both those who perished and those also who survived the Holocaust.”

Seif said Israel’s focus on the heroes during the Holocaust is important, as it shows the resilience of the Jewish community.

“(It’s important to) memorialize the heroes from all aspects, to sort of influence everybody to be a better person,” Seif said. “There’s a lot of Jewish values that have to do with acts of loving kindness, acts of going out of your way to help those in need, and (Yom Hashoah) sort of memorializes them in a historical manner.”

Junior Andrew Organ said remembering the Holocaust is important as remembering the event will prevent history from repeating itself.

“It is important to remember the events of the Holocaust because it is a true look at the capabilities of mankind when their minds are filled with hatred and disgust instead of compassion and empathy,” Organ said.

Price said in Israel, where Yom Hashoah is a public holiday, the country remembers the tragedy of the Holocaust with two minutes of silence. 

“In Israel on Yom Hashoah, the entire country comes to a stop for two minutes at 10 a.m,” Price said. “There’s a two-minute air raid siren that goes on in the country. If you’re even driving on the road, if you’re in school, if you’re in a bank, the whole country comes to a stop and you stand at attention for two minutes in memory of those who perished in the Holocaust.”

While Yom Hashoah is not a federal holiday in the United States, Price said the Jewish community of Indianapolis gets together during the day to remember the tragedy.

“The entire Indianapolis Jewish community will come together for a memorial ceremony that involves the synagogues and involves the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis. It involves the Jewish community relations council, they all come together,” Price said. “At the Indianapolis Hebrew congregation they’re going to have six small candles to represent the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.”

In addition to Jewish groups conducting ceremonies, according to Seif, temples and synagogues also honor the six million lives lost.

“I know all the temples, they do (Holocaust memorial) events,” he said. “There’s a prayer in Judaism about remembering those who have passed, and they tend to include people who died during the Holocaust in that prayer on Yom Hashoah.”

Organ said he attends these ceremonies on Yom Hashoah.

“Every year my family and I go to a memorial service at our temple, where members of our community say the names of those in their family who were lost,” he said.

Seif said the existence of a Holocaust memorial day is crucial due to its ability to keep remembrance about the tragedy alive and to allow the voices of its victims to be heard.

“I think just for Jews just around the world just simply just seeing that there’s a Holocaust Remembrance Day and that, there’s sort of a day that allows for the continued study of the Holocaust and of the remembrance of what’s happened, is sort of the good of it,” Seif said.

During the Hebrew Congregation’s remembrance ceremony, there will be two individuals sharing their family stories for the first time. Price said hearing from Holocaust survivors or second generation survivors is important as it allows one to truly understand the horror and scale of the Holocaust.

“I think (hearing from primary sources) is so important because it really makes it not the same as reading a book or just watching a movie,” Price said. “People really experienced the horrors of the Nazis and understanding that, I think this helps future generations realize that this is not it’s not just a made for movie kind of story.  It’s not something that just happened on screen.”

While the Holocaust is primarily memorialized in Jewish spheres, Price said it’s important for all to understand the true horror and scale of the tragedy, as it allows one to see the importance of every life on earth. 

“I think that learning about the Holocaust can teach not only the historical importance, but really a sense of empathy,” Price said. “We need to recognize every life is a life worth living, and that just creates a healthier and more compassionate society as a whole.”