International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocausts

The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations, through the resolution 60 / 7, on January 27. The date was chosen because, in 1945, the Soviet army liberated the largest Nazi extermination camp, Auschwitz – Birkenau, located in Poland.

The horrors of the Second World War led to one of the cornerstones of the Declaration of Human Rights which is referred to in Article 2: " Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”

The theme for this year’s observance campaign is “Stand up to Hatred”, which emphasizes the hope of opposing the feelings of hostility which separate people and lead to atrocities, such as the Holocaust.

“(…) we can and must do more if we are to make that hope a reality” highlighted Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General, during his presentation of his daily message, calling for further analysis of why the world failed to prevent the Holocaust and other atrocities since.

He added: “That way, we will be better armed to defeat anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance.”

“We must continue to teach our children the lessons of history’s darkest chapters. That will help them do a better job than their elders in building a world of peaceful coexistence.

We must combat Holocaust denial, and speak out in the face of bigotry and hatred.

And we must uphold the standards and laws that the United Nations has put in place to protect people and fight impunity for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

During this day of commemoration, several activities such as exhibitions and round tables are being held worldwide. The ceremony will be presided by Rabbi Meir Lau, chairman of Yad Vashem. Some survivors of this tragedy perpetrated by the Nazi government will also attend the ceremony.

Text: Gabriela Lara
English Version: Patricia Mamede

Holocaust pictures:

Cremation ovens	Children at Auschwitz-Birkenau
Starving children, holocaust victims	Holocaust Victim
Children used on scientific experiments	Victims of Dr. Joseph Mengele’s experiments
Experiments on humans	Genocida
Gas chambers at Auschwitz	. A regular day at a concentration camp
Millions of human beings were reduced, first to living skeletons, then to bones and rags, and finally to ashes and smoke	Slave workers at Buchenwald
The tragic history of the Holocaust	Consequences of the Holocaust
Bergen concentration camp	One of the common mass graves of Bergen-Belsen (April 1945)

Back