International Holocaust Remembrance Day
(January 27)
On November 1, 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 60/7 to designate January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (also referred to as the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust). The date marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and is meant to honor the victims of Nazism. The same resolution supports the development of educational programs to remember the Holocaust and prevent further genocide.
Resolution 60/7 established January 27 as “International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust” and rejected any form of Holocaust denial. The resolution encourages member states of the UN to actively preserve sites that the Nazis used during the “Final Solution” (for example, killing centers, concentration camps, and prisons.) Drawing from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the resolution condemns all forms of “religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief” worldwide.
In addition to observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day, many participating countries have established remembrance days that are often connected to events from the Holocaust.
In 1979, the United States Congress established Days of Remembrance that usually occur between April and early May to commemorate victims of the Nazi regime. The U.S. Days of Remembrance correspond to Yom Ha-Shoah, Israel’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Sources: “International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Wikipedia.
“International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
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