Next: 27 Jan 2027
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Candle flames in the dark, and the remembered colours of the camps: the yellow star and the blue and grey striped cloth.
The colours of International Holocaust Remembrance Day
On 27 January 1945 Soviet troops reached Auschwitz-Birkenau. The United Nations named the date a day of remembrance in 2005 for the six million Jews murdered by the Nazi regime, and for the Roma, disabled people and others who were killed. It is a day with very little colour. People light candles in windows and at memorials at dusk; in Britain public buildings are lit purple. The colours that are recalled are those that were forced on people: the yellow star that Jews were made to wear, and the blue and grey striped uniforms of the camps. Some survivors and their families wear a striped scarf to ceremonies. Yellow memorial candles are also lit on Yom HaShoah, Israel's own day of remembrance in spring.
#F2B33DCandle flameMemorial candles lit at dusk.#E8C21AStar yellowThe badge Jews were forced to wear.#6F7F94Stripe blue-greyThe striped cloth of camp uniforms.#111111Night blackDarkness around the candles; mourning.Values are fair approximations, not official shades.
Read about the colours
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "International Holocaust Remembrance Day" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.