International Holocaust Remembrance Day

The 27^th of January was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD) in 2005 to commemorate the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The date, January 27, serves as an essential date in itself as it marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviet Army. 2023 marks the 78^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Each year since 2010, the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) have designated specific themes for the annual commemoration. The theme of 2023 is “Home and Belonging” to reflect on what these concepts meant to persecuted individuals during the Holocaust, and its aftermath. The theme reminds us of our responsibility to respond with humanity to the victims of atrocity crimes, to counter hate speech, antisemitism, Holocaust distortion and denial, and prejudice – to do all we can to prevent genocide.

The United Nations Holocaust Memorial Ceremony will be held on January 27^th and will be streamed on the United Nations webpage. The ceremony will include remarks by the United Nations Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, and the Permanent Representatives of Israel and the United States. Professor Debórah Dwork, Holocaust scholar and educator, will deliver the keynote address.

For more Holocaust Remembrance Day events and ways to commemorate, check out the links below:

• Ways to Commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day

• Holocaust Memorial Ceremony 2023 - International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust

• Combating Holocaust Denial: Evidence of the Holocaust Presented at Nuremberg

• Days of Remembrance Resources

For more information about the Holocaust, take a look at the sources below:

• Series: The Holocaust-Holocaust Encyclopedia

• The Holocaust

• The Imperative to Witness: Memoirs by Survivors of Auschwitz