Holocaust Remembrance Day

Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) is a day in which we look back and take a moment to acknowledge all of the lives lost during the Holocaust.

The Holocaust Encyclopedia defines the Holocaust as “the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators. The Holocaust was an evolving process that took place throughout Europe between 1933 and 1945.”

Holocaust Remembrance Day is the 27th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, chosen as it falls within the time frame of the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This year, 2026, it was observed on Tuesday, April 14th.

If you would like more information about the Holocaust and the people lost, please check out the website for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Each year, Western Oregon University puts on an event to commemorate the lives lost during the Holocaust. Flags representing the lives lost are placed down Monmouth Avenue for people to take in the sheer scale of lives lost in this incredibly impactful and important
traditional commemorative event.

As in previous years, volunteers help set up flags along the road. These flags are meant to be a large, powerful display representing the lives of millions lost. There are flags of different colors to represent the lives lost from each listed population. Signs posted near the flags explain the meanings of the flag colors, the groups they represent, and the total number of people killed. One flag holds the stories of 500 different individuals who were persecuted and killed during the Holocaust.