International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is also known as the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust and was designated by the United Nations General Assembly back in 2005.
Today, on the 27 of January, the Richmond Jewish Day School joins with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, the greater Jewish community and the entire world to pause, reflect and remember.
Today, we will remember the six million Jewish lives that were lost — the survivors (many living in Vancouver), and the countless others – children, women, and men – who were victims of the horrible actions carried out by the Nazi regime and its collaborators in Germany.
Today, we will remember the date of January 27, which was chosen because this was the date when the Auschwitz concentration camp was finally freed by the Red Army.
Today, we will remember and study about what happened during the Holocaust, to better understand the dangers of anti-Semitism and all forms of racism in our society.
Today we will remember and hope that by learning about this tragedy, we can make sure nothing like this is ever repeated again.
It has been eighty years since the Holocaust began, but violent antisemitism remains a threat—as we saw at a Texas synagogue just this past month. The lessons of this history have never been more important than they are today.
I will ask that we please take a moment of silence to remember the 6 million victims of the Holocaust and the countless lives that were forever changed by this senseless genocide.
Thank you for you attention. Today and everyday we remember and we will never forget.
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