International Holocaust Remembrance Day

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International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27) is an annual international day of remembrance designated by Resolution 60/7 of the United Nations General Assembly on November 1, 2005.

The resolution urges every member nation to honor the memory of Holocaust victims and encourages the development of educational programs about Holocaust history as part of the resolve to help prevent future acts of genocide.

There can be no reversing the unique tragedy of the Holocaust. It must be remembered, with shame and horror, for as long as human memory continues. Only by remembering can we pay fitting tribute to the victims. Millions of innocent Jews and members of other minorities were murdered in the most barbarous ways imaginable. We must never forget those men, women and children, or their agony.

—United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, January 27, 2006.

[edit] In Germany

Holocaust Remembrance Day is a national memorial day (nationaler Gedenktag) in Germany called Der Tag des Gedenkens an die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (The day of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism). It was established in a proclamation issued by Federal President Roman Herzog on January 3, 1996, and set on January 27, the date in 1945 soldiers of the Soviet army liberated the survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.

As its name suggests, the day is intended as a day of memorial for the vicitims of the Holocaust during Germany's Nazi period. In his proclamation, Herzog said:

The remembering may not end—remembrance must also be a warning to vigilance for future generations. For this reason it is essential to find a form of remembering that will be effective in the future. It should express mourning for the suffering and loss, be dedicated to remembrance of the victims, and work to counter any danger of recurrence.

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