Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2025

Each year, six Holocaust survivors are chosen to light torches in memory of the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust

Eva Erben, a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia, will give the address on behalf of the survivors during the State Opening Ceremony of Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day ‏2025

Yhuda Hauptman, a Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia, will recite the "El Maleh Rahamim" prayer at the State Opening Ceremony of Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2025

The personal stories, artifacts, artworks and historical documents from Yad Vashem's collections showcased in this exhibition reflect different aspects of liberation: the challenges faced by Holocaust survivors and the attempt to rehabilitate themselves and to build new lives. They testify to the strength of the human spirit, and the survivors' ardent wish to embrace their freedom, both as Jews and as human beings.

After the war, the western Allies established DP camps in the Allied-occupied zones of Germany, Austria and Italy. The first inhabitants of these camps were concentration camp survivors who had been liberated by the Allies on German soil.  Conditions in these camps, especially at the beginning, were very difficult. Many of the camps were former concentration camps and German army camps.

The struggle of the survivors to come to Israel, to rebuild their lives, and become active partners in the most important communal endeavor of the Jewish people in the 20th century, is a wondrous achievement that knows no equal in human history. Here are some of their stories.