Israel to light up public buildings in yellow for Holocaust Remembrance Day

There are currently about 150,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel, and about 50 die every day.

  Israelis stand still as the siren to commemorate Holocaust victims sounds throughout Israel on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 28, 2022.  (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)
Israelis stand still as the siren to commemorate Holocaust victims sounds throughout Israel on Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 28, 2022.
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

Israel will light up some of its public buildings in yellow on Sunday, two days before Holocaust Remembrance Day to raise awareness of the importance of preserving the dignity and well-being of Holocaust survivors.

This initiative was started by the organization Aviv for Holocaust Survivors with assistance from the local and regional governments.

There are currently about 150,000 Holocaust survivors living in Israel, and about 50 die every day - and approximately 20% of those deaths every day are of survivors who lived in poverty.

Orli Sivan, the CEO of Aviv for Holocaust Survivors, stated that the organization "has been working for 15 years on behalf of Holocaust survivors and assists them in exercising all their rights in Israel and in the world without any payment on their part. We are in a race against time, and we know how much more needs to be done in order to allow these heroic Holocaust survivors to finish their lives with dignity.

"The yellow lights in the public space on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day will remind us that we have a responsibility and a moral obligation for the well-being and dignity of the Holocaust survivors who live among us," she adds.

 A CANDLE is lit and a flower is placed on the railway tracks at Birkenau, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, last year. (credit: Agencja Wyborcza.pl/Reuters)
A CANDLE is lit and a flower is placed on the railway tracks at Birkenau, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, last year. (credit: Agencja Wyborcza.pl/Reuters)

Some notable places that will be lit up

Buildings that will be lit up as part of the initiative will be the Chords Bridge at the entrance to the city, according to the Jerusalem Municipality, and the soccer stadium in Netanya.

"We're working all the time to ensure that every Holocaust survivor lives well," said Shay Hajaj, chairman of the regional government center. "We ask you, dear residents, to open your heart and eyes and be attentive to every need of the Holocaust survivors. We will do everything to make sure that all their needs are met."

"We ask you, dear residents, to open your heart, your eyes and be attentive to every need of the Holocaust survivors. We will do everything to make sure that all their needs are met."

Shay Hajaj