27 January: International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today, the world honours the memory of Holocaust victims. If you think that this mournful date has always been on the global community’s calendar, you are wrong. International Holocaust Remembrance Day was established by the UN General Assembly on 1 November 2005, meaning that the world had been waiting 60 years for this date…

The day of remembrance is dedicated to the events of January 1945, when the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front liberated the prisoners of Auschwitz, a horrific death camp that later became a symbol of Nazi crimes.

“They immediately shaved everyone who arrived at Auschwitz. They took everything from you so that you would no longer resemble a human being and would forget that you had once been one. They took your clothes and gave you striped clothing, shoes: wooden clogs, like shackles. And they tattooed a number on your arm. You were no longer a person with a name. Now you only had a number: 61369. No name, no family, no tribe, nothing,” said Anastasia Huley, born in 1925, a witness to the Holodomor and a prisoner of Auschwitz, in an interview with our museum.

“The Holocaust, which led to the destruction of one third of the Jewish people and countless members of other nationalities, will always serve as a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, fanaticism, racism and prejudice…” reads the UN General Assembly resolution establishing International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Today, we are witnessing that no date can protect humanity from the recurrence of mass crimes. However, it serves as a reminder that through joint efforts, people are capable of combating evil. The memory of the past should prompt decisive action now.