World Marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today, January 27, 2010 marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.   International Holocaust Remembrance Day was established as a global day of commemoration by a United Nations resolution in 2005.  On the day the resolution was adopted, the President of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, Mr. Jan Eliasson, stated that the Holocaust must "be a unifying historic warning around which we must rally, not only to recall the grievous crimes committed in human history but also to reaffirm our unfaltering resolve to prevent the recurrence of such crimes.We cannot continue to repeat saying 'Never again'."

More than one million people were murdered at Auschwitz; the death camp in modern-day Poland which was liberated by Soviet soldiers on January 27, 1945. President Shimon Peres of Israel addressed the German parliament in Berlin on Tuesday, January 26, 2010.  He stated: ''Across the world, survivors of the Holocaust are gradually departing from the world of the living.At the same time, men and women who took part in the most odious activity on earth -- that of genocide -- still live on German and European soil, and in other parts of the world.My request of you is: Please do everything to bring them to justice.''

The White House has sent a seven-member presidential delegation to Poland to attend the commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz.  The delegation, lead by the Honorable Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, includes three Auschwitz survivors.

At the United Nations a solemn ceremony and concert will take place. Keynote remarks will be made by Nechama Tec, a Holocaust survivor, and her son, Mr. Roland Tec, co-producer of the film "Defiance."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a statement saying that the theme for this year's observance is "The Legacy of Survival."

"Countless men, women and children suffered the horrors of the ghettos and Nazi death camps, yet somehow survived.  All of them carry a crucial message for all of us.  A message about the triumph of the human spirit.  A living testament that tyranny, though it may rise, will surely not prevail.  Survivors also play a vital role in keeping the lessons of the Holocaust alive for future generations. [M]any millions of people were systematically abused and murdered.  Most of them were Jews.  But others were targeted, too.  At Auschwitz, thousands of those killed were inhabitants of the Roma and Sinti 'family camp'.  Holocaust survivors will not be with us forever but the legacy of their survival must live on.  We must preserve their stories through memorials, through education, most of all through robust efforts to prevent genocide and other grave crimes...  Together, let us pledge to carry forward the mission of Holocaust remembrance and uphold human dignity for all."