In November 2005, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted Resolution 60/7 naming January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in recognition of the day in 1945 when Auschwitz-Birkenau, the deadliest Nazi concentration camp and killing center, was liberated.
As documented by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum encyclopedia, more than six million European Jews were killed during the Holocaust between 1933-1945 as a result of Nazi Germany actions - from forcing Jewish people to live in deadly living conditions at ghettos and labor camps where they were deprived of basic human needs, to conducting mass shootings and acts of violence in cities, towns and villages in Nazi-occupied areas of Europe and large scale poisonous gassings at designated killing centers and concentration camps. In addition, many non-Jewish people were killed, including Soviet Prisoners of War (3.3 million), Non-Jewish (ethnic) Poles and Romani civilians (over 2 million combined), over 250,000 people with disabilities (10,000 of which were children), gay and bisexual men (hundreds, possibly thousands), and black people living in Germany (number of deaths unknown).
The UN’s theme for the 2024 International Holocaust Remembrance Day is Recognizing the Extraordinary Courage of Victims and Survivors of the Holocaust. Individuals are encouraged to use International Holocaust Remembrance Day to honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and share information to ensure history of the Holocaust and other genocides is preserved and lessons learned are not lost.
Our UMass community plays an active part in ensuring the history of the Holocaust is not lost. The UMass Amherst Institute of Holocaust, Genocide and Memory studies hosts a permanent display, "A Reason to Remember: Roth, Germany 1933-1942” as well as virtual lectures. Please note: appointments to view the exhibit are required.
Communication developed by Christine Packard.