Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) speech template (Israel)
Published 10 October 2026 · Date checked on 5 October 2026 · Written by the Cue Card Converter team at EventProgrammer, event production professionals
Yom HaShoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, is observed in Israel on 27 Nisan in the Hebrew calendar. It remembers the Jews murdered in the Holocaust and honours Jewish resistance. The day begins at sunset with a state ceremony at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, where six torches are lit. At 10 a.m. the next morning, a siren sounds across Israel for two minutes, and people stop where they are and stand in silence.
- Date
- Around 27 Nisan (Hebrew calendar) – the Gregorian date changes every year
- Next dates
- Set by the local calendar – check the official date each year
- Country
- Israel
- Tone
- Solemn – remembrance
- Typical events
- Jewish community centres, synagogues, schools, universities, Israeli embassies and civic memorial ceremonies held on the eve or the day of Yom HaShoah.
- Length
- 176 spoken words · about 1.5 min at 130 words a minute · 4 cue cards
The Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) speech, ready as cue cards
A complete host script in 4 cards, about 1.5 minutes of speaking. Open it in the editor to add your names, change the card size or highlights, and print.
- WELCOME1 / 4
Good evening. My name is {Your name}, and I welcome you on behalf of {Organisation} to this ceremony for Yom HaShoah. We come together to remember the Jews murdered in the Holocaust, and to honour those who resisted. Please hold your applause throughout this evening's ceremony. - WHY WE REMEMBER2 / 4
They were parents and children, neighbours and friends. Whole communities, with their languages, songs and traditions, were destroyed. Some fought back, in the ghettos, in the camps and in the forests. Tonight we remember them as people, each with a name, and we promise to keep their memory. - SIX CANDLES3 / 4
Six memorial candles will now be lit, one by one, in memory of the six million. Each flame stands for lives that were taken, and for the families and futures lost with them. I invite {Names of candle lighters} to come forward. Please remain seated.
[CANDLE LIGHTING IN SILENCE] - A MOMENT OF SILENCE4 / 4
In Israel, a siren will sound tomorrow morning and the whole country will stand still. Here, we rise and stand together now, in silence.
[ONE MINUTE OF SILENCE]
Thank you. Please leave in quiet reflection. May their memory be a blessing.
Red is used only for names, titles, organisations, dates, times and section headings. Replace the words in {curly brackets} with your own details; lines in [SQUARE BRACKETS] are stage directions and are not read aloud.
How to adapt it
- Yom HaShoah follows the Hebrew calendar and begins at sunset the evening before. The date moves when 27 Nisan would fall next to Shabbat, so check the official date for this year before booking a venue.
- Leave out applause, music cues and decorations. If survivors are taking part, agree their role with them and their families, and arrange accessible seating and a quiet room nearby.
- If you hold the ceremony during the day, change 'tomorrow morning' in the last card. You could instead time your silence to coincide with the siren at 10 a.m. Israel time.
- Keep the ceremony focused on the victims, the survivors and the history itself. Avoid references to current politics or present-day conflicts, which can divide an audience gathered to remember.
Print and rehearse
“Edit and print these cards” opens the script in the free cue card maker, where you can choose A5, 4 × 6 or 3 × 5 inch cards, print several per sheet with cut lines or export PDF, PowerPoint and Word, and rehearse full screen in practice mode. To write your own programme around it, see how to write an MC script and the run of show template.
Sources
Date and background checked on 5 October 2026 against: Gedenktag für die Märtyrer und Helden des Holocaust - Yad Vashem. Customs vary between organisations and regions; always follow the official programme of your event.
More Israel speech templates
- Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day) · Around 5 Iyar (Hebrew calendar)