![]() Apart from anti-Semitism, observing a day such as Holocaust Remembrance Day allows for dialogue on other kinds of genocides and racism to be furthered. It also provides space and a basis to open a dialogue on anti-Semitism in the present day. By observing Holocaust Remembrance Day, it is possible to remind people of the horrors such types of thinking and wrong beliefs can lead to. Many of these untrue and hateful stereotypes were propagated by the Nazi Party to further their ideology of Aryan supremacy during the Holocaust. Anti-Semitism refers to the belief that those who are of Jewish descendance are impure or evil. Alarmingly, even in 2022, there are pro-Nazis (referred to as Neo-Nazis) and hold anti-Semitic and racist views. To fight against hatred and anti-SemitismĮven though the Nazis were defeated in 1945, their ideology of white (Aryan) supremacy continued to be fostered. Their traumatic history is one that needs to be acknowledged and given due attention. Those survivors who were able to escape or were rescued lost their families, friends, neighbours and entire communities to Nazi persecution. It is important to honour their lives and grieve their deaths as an act of humanity. These innocent victims lost their lives for no other reason than their religion and ethnicity. Over six million Jewish men, women, and children were killed during the Holocaust. Let’s delve into a few of the most important ones: To commemorate the victims and survivorsĪs already mentioned above, one of the primary reasons we observe Holocaust Remembrance Day is to commemorate the victims of this hateful genocide. There are many reasons to observe Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is important to note that many countries, especially in Europe, also observe other days of commemoration for the victims of the Holocaust, depending on the events that took place during their national borders during this period. As such, this day was selected as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day by the United Nations. The date thus marks the end to the suffering of the prisoners and their rescue from Nazi persecution. On January 27, 1945, this Aushwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated. It also saw some of the worst cruelties in terms of forced labour, living conditions and terrible ‘pseudo-scientific’ medical experiments. It is said that more than a million Jews were executed in its gas chamber. It was here that a permanent gas chamber was erected, as well as the gruesome Black Wall against which thousands were shot to death and executed by the Nazi officers. One of the most infamous concentration camps during the Holocaust were those in and around Aushwitz-Birkenau in German-occupied Poland. Why is International Holocaust Remembrance Day observed on January 27th? Still, to have one standard day when the whole world could come together and commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, the United Nations declared January 27th as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005. Many countries do have certain dates that are designated as a Holocaust Memorial Day or Holocaust Remembrance Day. While the atrocities that were faced by the Jews during the Shoah (as the Holocaust is referred to in Hebrew) will continue to haunt all of humanity for centuries to come, it is important to commemorate the victims of this terrible genocide. This terrible period was put to an end when the Allied Forces defeated the Axis Powers, ending the Second World War. Many medical experiments were also carried out on Jewish people and other captives, without their consent. Others were cruelly executed for the slightest signs of indiscipline. Thousands died simply due to disease and illness. One of the horrors of the Holocaust include the existence and use of gas chambers and concentration camps, where prisoners were either executed or forced into hard labour, living in cramped quarters, given little to no food and water or medical attention. If all human history were laid out as a tapestry, one of the darkest stains would be the Holocaust that involved the death, persecution, and torture of more than six million Jews and other marginalized communities like the Romas at the hands of the Nazi party.
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