International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Each year on this date, January 27, many nations of the world including the United States observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is a day that honors and commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah – a period in the 20^th century when Nazi Germany and other collaborator nations systematically murdered over six million Jews. This persecution of the Jewish people was carried out in cities and country-sides, through forced migration, and through mass executions in concentration camps across Nazi-occupied Europe. While the Jewish people were the primary target, other ethnic and minority groups also were the victims of deadly Nazi persecution.

January 27 was selected under the authorizing United Nations General Assembly Resolution because it marked the date the Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp was liberated by the Soviet (“Red”) Army.

By observing International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we bring the memory of the Jewish women, men, and children who died at the hands of their persecutors to the forefront of our consciousness. We do so not only to commemorate those who died; we do so to acknowledge the perseverance of the Jewish people despite these horrors. We also underscore our awareness of the fact that anti-Semitic racism continues to this day. Our commitment to building a community of inclusive belonging – one which works actively to support and care for our Jewish community members, and one that confront racism and discrimination wherever it exists – demands that we educate ourselves about those attitudes, prejudices, and activities that give rise to anti-Semitism, and work to change them. For more information, community members are invited to visit the website of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.