The Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations joins colleagues today recognizing the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
In 2005 the UN General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Through this commemoration, the UN system and member states of the UN honor the victims of the Nazi era and provide and develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.
The theme for this year’s observance is: “Liberty, Life and the Legacy of the Holocaust Survivors”.
Statement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, January 27, 2015
Seventy years ago today, allied forces liberated Auschwitz Birkenau, the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp.
More than a million inmates, primarily Jews, were brutally and systematically killed in the place where the Nazis introduced the monstrous concept of “industrialized murder”. Among the other victims were non-Jewish Poles, political prisoners, Soviet prisoners of war, Sinti and Roma, homosexuals, disabled persons and Jehovah’s witnesses.
Unprecedented in human history, this mass killing was motivated by the perverse, race-based ideology of the Nazis, who sought to track down and kill every last Jew and any others they considered to be inferior.
Humankind united to overcome the Nazi menace. Today, we are being tested again. Minorities everywhere often face bigotry. Sectarian tensions and other forms of intolerance are on the rise. Anti-Semitic attacks continue, with Jews being killed solely because they are Jews. Vulnerable communities around the world continue to bury their dead while living in fear of further violence.
The mission of the United Nations was shaped by the tragedy of the Second World War and the Holocaust. We are committed to protect the vulnerable, promote fundamental human rights and uphold the freedom, dignity and worth of every person.
For the past decade, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme has mobilized students and educators around the world to help us achieve these goals. We are grateful to our many partners – including Holocaust survivors — who have contributed to this work, which spanned 42 countries in the past year alone.
The violence and bias we see every day are stark reminders of the distance still to travel in upholding human rights, preventing genocide and defending our common humanity. We must redouble our efforts to eradicate the deep roots of hatred and intolerance. People everywhere must unite to stop the cycles of discord and build a world of inclusion and mutual respect.
President Obama notes in his statement: “We commemorate all of the victims of the Holocaust, pledging never to forget, and recalling the cautionary words of the author and survivor of Auschwitz Primo Levi, ‘It happened, therefore it can happen again. . . . It can happen anywhere.’ Today we come together and commit, to the millions of murdered souls and all survivors, that it must never happen again.”