International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
Every year around 27 January, UNESCO pays tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to counter antisemitism, racism, and other forms of intolerance that may lead to group-targeted violence. The date marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945. It was officially proclaimed, in , International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust by the United Nations General Assembly.
"Every year, this symbolic date urges the international community to remember the 6 million Jews who were murdered alongside countless other victims of Nazi brutality. At a time when there are fewer and fewer direct witnesses of the Holocaust, marking the twilight of what historian Annette Wieviorka calls "the era of the witness", we must commit ourselves with ever greater gravity to the perpetuation of its memory."
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2025 commemorations
27 January 2025 will mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp. Over one million people were murdered in this vast complex alone, most of them Jews. Marking this important anniversary and the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, UNESCO is organizing a series of events on 23 January recalling the continued relevance to teach and learn about the Holocaust, globally.
The Holocaust profoundly affected countries in which Nazi crimes were perpetrated, with universal implications and consequences in many other parts of the world. Member States share a collective responsibility for addressing the residual trauma, maintaining effective remembrance policies, caring for historic sites, and promoting education, documentation and research, more than seven decades after the genocide. This responsibility entails educating about the causes, consequences and dynamics of such crimes so as to strengthen the resilience of young people against ideologies of hatred. As genocide and atrocity crimes keep occurring across several regions, and as we are witnessing a global rise of antisemitism and hate speech, this has never been so relevant.
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