A Holocaust memorial day or Holocaust remembrance day is an annual observance to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide of six million Jews and of millions of other Holocaust victims by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. Many countries, primarily in Europe, have designated national dates of commemoration. In 2005, the United Nations instituted an international observance, International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Many observances fall on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945, while other countries selected separate dates, often to mark anniversaries of national events during the Holocaust. Holocaust remembrance days often include efforts to combat hatred and antisemitism.
| Country | Day | Name | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Nations | 27 January | International Holocaust Remembrance Day | Designated by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/7 on 1 November 2005.[1] | |
| Azerbaijan | 27 January | Day of the Tragedy and Heroism of the Jews | ||
| Australia | 27 January[2] | International Holocaust Remembrance Day | ||
| Austria | 5 May | Memorial Day against Violence and Racism in Memory on the Victims of National Socialism German: [[:de:Gedenktag gegen Gewalt und Rassismus im Gedenken an die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus|Gedenktag gegen Gewalt und Rassismus im Gedenken an die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus]] | The day that the concentration camp Mauthausen was liberated in 1945. | |
| Belgium | 27 January | International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust French: Journée internationale de la commémoration en mémoire des victims de la Shoah | ||
| 27 January | International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust | |||
| Bulgaria | 10 March | Holocaust Remembrance Day and the "Day of the Salvation of the Bulgarian Jews and of the Victims of the Holocaust and of the Crimes against Humanity" | The day of the revocation of the plan to expel the country's Jewish population, officially designated in 2003.[3] | |
| Canada - Alberta, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia | 27 Nisan (April/May) | The Canadian provinces of Alberta,[4] Manitoba,[5] and Nova Scotia[6] enacted legislation to recognize Holocaust Memorial Day in 2000.[7] | Note: Other provinces of Canada have made the same enactment so the Canadian entry needs a full updating | |
| Croatia | 27 January | Day of Remembrance of the Holocaust and for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity | ||
| Czech Republic | 27 January | Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity Den památky obětí holocaustu a předcházení zločinu proti lidskosti | ||
| Denmark | 27 January | Auschwitz Day of Holocaust and Genocide Remembrance | ||
| Estonia | 27 January[8] | Holocaust Remembrance DayHolokausti mälestuspäev | ||
| 27 January | Memorial Day for the Victims of the Holocaust (Vainojen uhrien muistopäivä) | |||
| France | 16 July | Anniversary of the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup French: [[Vel' d'Hiv Roundup#Memorials and monuments|Anniversaire de la rafle du Vélodrome d'hiver]]. | Remembrance marking the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews in Paris in 1942 and their extermination at Auschwitz. | |
| Germany | 27 January | Memorial Day for the Victims of National Socialism | German: [[:de:Gedenktag für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus|Tag des Gedenkens an die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus]] | |
| Greece | 27 January | National Holocaust Memorial Day Εθνική Ημέρα Μνήμης Ολοκαυτώματος (Ethniki Imera Mnimis Olokaftomatos) | Since 2004.[9] | |
| 16 April | Holocaust Memorial Day | Since 2001.[10] | ||
| Sunday closest to 27 January | National Holocaust Memorial Day | |||
| Israel (and many Jewish communities in other countries) | 27 Nisan (April/May) | Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Day), or Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laGvura (Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day) | Both an Israeli day of remembrance and a day of remembrance observed by many Jewish communities in the United States and elsewhere in the world.The date relates both to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising which began 13 days earlier on the first night of Passover 1943, and to the Israeli Independence Day which is eight days later.[11] | |
| Italy | 27 January | Memorial Day | Italian: [[:it:Giorno della Memoria|Giorno della Memoria]] | |
| 4 July | Commemoration Day of the Victims of the Genocide Against the Jewish PeopleEbreju tautas genocīda upuru piemiņas diena | Burning of the Great Choral Synagogue in Riga in 1941.[12] | ||
| Lithuania | 23 September | Day of the Genocide of Lithuania's Jews Lietuvos žydų genocido diena | Anniversary of the liquidation of the Vilnius ghetto in 1943. | |
| 27 January | Holocaust Memorial Day | |||
| Netherlands | last Sunday of January | National Holocaust Remembrance | Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on 27 January 1945. | |
| North Macedonia | 27 January | |||
| 27 January | Holocaust Memorial Day | |||
| Poland | 27 January | International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust | Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.[13] | |
| 27 January | Holocaust Remembrance Day | |||
| Romania | 9 October | National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan: [[National Day of Commemorating the Holocaust|Ziua Naţională de Comemorare a Holocaustului]] | ||
| Serbia | 22 April | Holocaust Remembrance Day Dan sećanja na žrtve holokausta | ||
| Slovakia | 9 September | Holocaust Victims and Racial Hatred Day | On 9 September 1941, Slovakia passed anti-Jewish laws based on the Nuremberg laws.[14] | |
| 27 January | National Holocaust Remembrance Day | |||
| 27 January | Day for Holocaust Remembrance and for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity Día Oficial de la Memoria del Holocausto y la Prevención de los Crímenes contra la Humanidad | |||
| Sweden | 27 January | Holocaust Remembrance Day Förintelsens minnesdag | A national remembrance day every year since 1999. | |
| 27 January | International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust | |||
| Taiwan (Republic of China) | 27 January 25 February | Holocaust Memorial Day (大屠殺陣亡將士紀念日) (Dà túshā zhènwáng jiàngshì jìniàn rì) | In addition to the European events, the ROC/Taiwan also honors the victims of the February 28 incident.[15] | |
| 27 January | Holocaust Memorial Day | Since 2020.[16] | ||
| United Kingdom | 27 January | Holocaust Memorial Day | First held in January 2001 and on the same date every year since. | |
| United States | 8-day period, from the Sunday before Yom Hashoah to the Sunday after Yom Hashoah | Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (DRVH) | Established by Congress in 1979 as the period for remembrance programs and ceremonies. |
, twelve countries observed January 27, the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, including Germany, Britain, Italy and Scandinavian countries. In 2003 France designated this date as the day of remembrance of genocides and prevention of crimes against humanity.[17] In 2004 Israel designated this date as a mark of the struggle against antisemitism.
, eleven countries in Europe had chosen dates related to local histories.