Public reading of the names of Holocaust victims - Yom HaShoah
The „Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day“, in Hebrew „Yom Hazikaron laShoah ve-LaG‘vurah“ (יום הזיכרון לשואה ולגבורה ) is one of the days of commemoration for the victims of the Holocaust. Initially, it was suggested to hold it on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw ghetto uprising (14th Nisan/19th of April, 1943), but since this date is very close to Pesach, it was decided to hold it on the 27th Nisan instead. In Israel, this day is a state holiday.
In the Czech Republic Yom HaShoah only gained importance after 1989. At first, commemorative ceremonies were set up for the members of the Jewish community. Those commemorations are held to this very day in Terezín and at Pinkas synagogue in Prague.
In 2006, the Union of Czech Jewish Youth (Česká unie židovské mládeže) started a public ceremony in Prague. Everyone can participate and read out the names of those, who fell victim to racist persecution during WWII. Year by year, more cities from the Czech Republic participate in this form of public commemoration.
Note: Hyperlinks will lead to parts of our website, which may not yet have been translated to English. The pictures and videos you will find there, though, might give you an impression of the commemoration.
Yom HaShoah 2019
In 2019, Yom HaShoah will take place in 21 cities in Czech Republic on May, 2nd. For the first time, there will be a public reading held in Karlovy Vary, Mikulov, Nýrsko Prostějov and Teplice.
Yom HaShoah 2018
Held on April 12th, 2018 in 16 Czech cities: Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Liberec, Sušice, Kolín, Kutná Hora, Plzeň, Havlíčkův Brod, Ústí nad Labem, Klatovy, for the first time in Horažďovice, Lipník nad Bečvou, Mělník, Sedlčany (together with Kosova Hora, participating since 2017) and Ústí nad Orlicí.
Yom HaShoah 2017
Held on April 24th, 2017 in 13 Czech cities: Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Liberec, Sučice, Kolín, Kutná Hora, Plzeň, Havlíčkův Brod, Blatná and, for the first time, in Ústí nad Labem, Kosova Hora and Klatovy.
Yom HaShoah 2016
Public readings of the names of victims of the Holocaust took place on May 5th, 2016, in 11 Czech cities: Prague, Blatná, Brno, Havlíčkův Brod, Kolín, Kutná Hora, Liberec, Liteň u Berouna, Olomouc, Plzeň and Sušice.
Yom HaShoah 2015
On April 16th, 2016, Yom HaShoah took place for the tenth time in Prague, for the second time in Brno, Kolín, Kutná Hora, Liberec, Olomouc and Sušice.
Yom HaShoah 2014
On April 28th, 2014, Yom HaShoah took place for the ninth time in Prague. For the first time, public readings were held also in Brno, Kutná Hora, Liberec, Olomouc and Sušice.
Yom HaShoah 2013
On April 8th, 2013, the 8th public commemoration of victims of the Holocaust took place on náměstí Míru in Prague.
Yom HaShoah 2012
On April 18th, 2012, on náměstí Míru in Prague the names of victims of the Holocaust were read out in public for the 7th time.
Yom HaShoah 2011
The sixth time of public commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust on náměstí Míru in Prague took place on May 2nd, 2011.
Yom HaShoah 2010
April 11th, 2010 on náměstí Míru in Prague.
Yom HaShoah 2009
April 21st, 2009 on náměstí Míru in Prague.
Yom HaShoah 2008
April 30th, 2008 on náměstí Míru in Prague.
Yom HaShoah 2007
April 15th, 2007 on náměstí Míru in Prague.
Yom HaShoah 2006
April 25th, 2006 on náměstí Míru in Prague.
You can also visit
Thanks to the generous support of various donors, we have been able to add new books to our library collection. Among them is a wide range of specialist literature in German, English and Czech that complements our existing collection.
We would like to present a few highlights to our readers here. The complete list of new additions can be found in the PDF document.
On the occasion of the meeting of the International Auschwitz Museum Council, its members paid tribute to the Jewish and Roma victims of the Treblinka labor camp at the site of their mass graves. Pictured are T. Kraus, Colette Avital and Roman Kwiatkowski.
This Sunday 11th May 2025 we attended a commemorative act in Lety u Písku to honor the Roma and Sinti victims from Bohemia and Moravia. 1300 people passed through the camp. Of those 335, mainly children, have died due to the inhumane conditions. After the mass transport in 1943 to the extermination camp in Auschwitz - Birkenau, the buildings of the Lety camp were torn down and burnt.
Thanks to Spielberg's film Schindler's List, the whole world knows the story of the rescue of 1,200 Jewish prisoners at the end of the Second World War. The whole world knows who Oskar Schindler was and why he became a symbol of good in a time of evil. But that same world has no idea where this heartbreaking story actually took place. That could change now.
Yesterday, together with the participants of the seminar and excursion Bergen-Belsen on the Threshold of Freedom, we attended a reception at the British Embassy in Prague on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by the British Army on 15 April 1945.
Anne Frank and thousands of others. We visited the place where the fate of one of the world's most famous stories came to an end, as well as that of countless of others. The Bergen-Belsen camp was burned down after the war, but one can still hear echoes of the past. How can we learn about the horrors that have gone to ashes?
Yesterday, we welcomed Director Denise Quistorp and Sebastian Halbauer from the Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague to our premises at Jáchymova to exchange views on our respective activities and projects. This gave us the opportunity to identify common priorities in our work and to further strengthen Austro-Czech exchange through future cooperation.