Yom HaShoah in pictures: How the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day

There are no more solemn days on the calendar than Yom HaShoah - the day we remember the six million Jews whose lives were taken in the Holocaust.

The first official commemorations took place on May 3, 1951, and the annual remembrance day was sealed into law by the Knesset in 1959, signed by then-Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, and the then-President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi.

Formally named Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Remembrance Day, it is marked annually on the 27th of Nisan - which falls in April or May - unless it would be adjacent to the Sabbath, in which case it is shifted by a day.

In the 71 years since, the day of remembrance has been marked by services of remembrance both in Israel and around the world.

Below is a selection of pictures of the commemorations of Holocaust Remembrance Day 2022.

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Israeli president Isaac Herzog speaks during a ceremony held at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem, as Israel marks annual Holocaust Remembrance Day. April 27, 2022. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90

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Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett pays tribute during a wreath-laying ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem, April 28, 2022. (Photo by AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by AMIR COHEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

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Israeli soldiers attend the ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem, April 28, 2022. (Photo by AMIR COHEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by AMIR COHEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

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Israeli drivers stop and stand in silence in Tel Aviv on April 28, 2022 as sirens wail across Israel for two minutes marking the annual Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Remembrance Day in memory of the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Holocaust survivor with border police on Yom HaShoah

Israel’s Border Police has released a video showing fighters surrounding Holocaust survivor, Ezekiel Herashtik, in honor of Yom HaShoah.

IDF Holocaust survivor with granddaughters

A photo release by the Israeli Defence Forces shows Holocaust survivor Ervin and his twin granddaughters - both soldiers. Photo by Israeli Defence Forces/Twitter

Nine Holocaust survivors fleeing the war in Ukraine landed in Israel on Wednesday night on a special plane as the Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations began.

12 other Holocaust survivors fleeing from war-torn Ukraine landed in Israel earlier in the day on a regular flight organised by the International Fellowship of Jews and Christians.

Those 21 survivors have joined an estimated 500 survivors of Nazi genocide who have found refuge in Israel over the past two months, along with over 15,000 others from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, according to figures from the Israeli government's department of Immigration.

Below is a selection of photos of their arrival in Israel. Read the full story here.

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Holocaust survivors rescued from the war in Ukraine arrive on a rescue flight, at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 27, 2022. Photo by Tomer Neuberg/Flash90

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On Wednesday night, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely were among those joining 30 Holocaust survivors at a Yom HaShoah commemoration at Jewish Care’s Golders Green campus on Wednesday night.

Mr Khan said the message of Yom HaShoah was that “we must never forget and never let it happen again. Non-Jewish people must stand shoulder to shoulder with Jewish people as we see sadly see antisemitism on the rise again, both in the UK and across Europe.

Read the full story here.