The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.
This year, the theme of the UN Holocaust Remembrance Day is “home and belonging”, two concepts that were systematically ripped away from Jewish citizens, once the Nazi Party took control of Germany in 1933.
The World Holocaust Remembrance Center has specially updated its exhibition, “The Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims” for display at United Nations Headquarters this year. “The Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims” details alphabetically the name of each of the approximately 4.8 million Holocaust victims that Yad Vashem has currently documented and confirmed. Whenever possible, “The Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims” shows the date of birth, home town and place of death of the respective victim. The names are taken from Pages of Testimony in Yad Vashem’s Hall of Names, as well as from various lists compiled during and following the Holocaust, and subsequently reviewed by Yad Vashem experts. The display of “The Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims” at the United Nations is supported by the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations.
At the inauguration of the U.N. installation, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Nazis tried to rob millions of Jews of their names before killing them during World War II — but explained that they failed and all those slaughtered “shall never be forgotten.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Guests are welcome to visit the exhibition during regular hours (Monday-Friday, 9 am – 5 pm). For more information, please, check the United Nations Visitor Centre entry guidelines.