Annual Yizkor Ceremony
www.jewishphilly.org/holocaust
Since 1964 the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia has sponsored the Yizkor ceremony in memory of the Six Million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, held annually at the Monument to the Six Million Jewish Martyrs at 16th Street and the Parkway. 
Philadelphia was one of the first American cities to conduct a public ceremony for this purpose and to erect a monument to honor those who perished in the Shoah. Each year approximately 1500 members of the Jewish community memorialize those who died in the Holocaust. In light of the absence of graves for surviving family members to visit to honor their loved ones, the monument takes on a special significance. As the years go by, the survivor community is decreasing. Therefore, there is an increased responsibility on the rest of the Jewish community to honor and recall those who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
One of the additional purposes of the annual Yizkor ceremony is to educate younger generations of the significance of this tragedy and the important lessons that can be drawn from this experience. Ever increasing emphasis is placed on involving Jewish youth in this event, including the pre-Yizkor “Dorothy Freedman Memorial Conversation with a Survivor” program when middle and high school students have an opportunity to participate in informal conversations with Holocaust survivors.