Please connect with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project this Monday, May 6, from 3:00-4:45pm for a live virtual event commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month and Holocaust Remembrance Day. The purpose of the event is to celebrate the contributions of Jewish veterans to the nation and to recall reverently the 6 million victims of the Holocaust. 

Every year in May, hundreds of organizations and Americans of all backgrounds join together to discover, explore, and celebrate the vibrant and varied American Jewish experience from the dawn of the nation to the present day. The federal recognition began in 2006 after years of advocacy from Jewish American leaders.

Today, approximately 7.6 million Jewish Americans make up roughly 2.4 percent of the United States population, with nearly a fourth of that number estimated to be living in the New York City metropolitan area. In fact, New York City has the second largest Jewish population of any city in the world, behind only Tel Aviv, Israel.

With such a large population comes a long history, dating back to when the first known Jewish immigrant, Jacob Barsimson arrived in New York City in 1654. The largest wave of Jewish immigration came at the turn of the 20th century, when the population went from about 80,000 Jewish Americans in 1880 to 1.5 million in 1920.

The internationally recognized date for Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. That date this year is Monday, May 6.

In Hebrew, Holocaust Remembrance Day is called Yom Hashoah. When the actual date of Yom Hashoah falls on a Friday, the state of Israel observes Yom Hashoah on the preceding Thursday. When it falls on a Sunday, Yom Hashoah is observed on the following Monday. In the United States, Days of Remembrance run from the Sunday before Yom Hashoah through the following Sunday.

To both access the flyer and to tune into the May 6 livestream commemoration event, click here.