What date is Holocaust Remembrance Day and why is not the same every year?
After the horrors of the Holocaust, Jews wanted a day to memorialize this tragedy. But what day? For two years, the date was debated. Finally, in 1950, compromises and bargaining began. The 27th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar,* was chosen. This date falls beyond Passover but within the time span of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. On April 12, 1951, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) proclaimed Yom Hashoah U’Mered HaGetaot (Holocaust and Ghetto Revolt Remembrance Day) to be the 27th of Nisan. The name was later simplified to Yom Hashoah. This year Holocaust Remembrance Day begins on April 14th at sundown and ends on April 15th at sundown. *The Hebrew calendar is based on the lunar cycle. The months are shorter than those on the solar calendar (the calendar we commonly use), so a date on the Hebrew calendar does not always match up with the same day on the solar calendar.
