In 1951, the Knesset (Parliament of Israel) passed a resolution establishing the 27th of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar as the annual Holocaust and Ghetto Uprising Remembrance Day or Yom Hazikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah. This is a week after Passover and eight days before Israel Independence Day. Yom HaShoah is a day of commemoration that is also marked in Jewish communities across the United States. 

In Israel, Israeli television airs Holocaust documentaries and Holocaust-related talk shows and venues of public entertainment are closed. Flags on public buildings are flown at half mast. An air raid siren sounds throughout the country and Israelis observe two minutes of solemn reflection. Almost everyone stops what they are doing, with motorists stopping their cars in the middle of the road and standing beside their vehicles as the siren is sounded.

In the United States, many communities hold ceremonies, recognition of survivors, and reading of names of victims. This day is recognized in addition to International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, that was established by the United Nations.