Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
On this day, we reflect on the tragedy of the Holocaust and commemorate the 6 million Jewish victims, as well as the millions of other victims, of the Nazi Regime. We look back on humanity’s past crimes with an eye towards preventing them in the future.
27 January 2019 is the 74th anniversary of the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp, was liberated by the Red Army. Among the items found at the site were 370,000 men’s suits, 837,000 women’s garments, and 7.7 tonnes of human hair.
The theme of International Holocaust Remembrance Day this year is “Demand and Defend Your Human Rights”. This theme encourages young people to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust, to act against discrimination and to defend democratic values in their communities, at a time when the spread of Neo-Nazism and hate groups is fuelling the rise of hatred and prejudice around the world.
The Holocaust may seem like a tragedy from a distant past, but its effects are still lasting to this day. Even now we see hatred and intolerance spreading.
Choose kindness, peace and the protection of human rights. Speak up against racism and prejudice wherever you see it.
Silence is complicity. Lest we forget.