Stockholm 2000

 At a meeting of 46 nations in Stockholm in 2000 it was decided that all participating countries should:

 “encourage appropriate forms of Holocaust remembrance, including an annual Day of Holocaust Remembrance” 

Many countries have their own Holocaust national days of remembrance which are linked to particularly relevant dates for that country, for example, 19 April in Poland or 9 October in Romania.

 

 United Nations 2005

 In 2005 the United Nations adopted Resolution 60/7 which established 27 January as International Day of commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and urged every member nation to honour the memory of Holocaust victims and encouraged the development of educational programs about Holocaust history to help prevent future acts of genocide.

 

27 January was adopted as it was on this day in 1945 that the Soviet Army entered the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp and liberated the remaining prisoners who were few in number and mostly close to death. Over one million people had already been murdered in this camp.

Only a short time earlier the Nazis had forced nearly 60,000 prisoners to evacuate the camp and embark on the infamous 'Death Marches' during which many thousands of people perished.

27 January provides an opportunity for everyone to learn lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur and apply them in the present day to create a safer, better future. People of all ages can come together in schools, workplaces and public spaces to remember the lessons from the past.

 

As the Secretary-General of the United Nations declared:

But it is not enough to remember, honour and grieve for the dead.  As we do, we must also educate, nurture and care for the living.  We must foster in our children a sense of responsibility, so that they can build societies that protect and promote the rights of all citizens.  We must instil in them a respect for diversity before intolerance has a chance to take root, and a sense of vigilance in case it threatens to do so.  We must give them the courage and tools they need to make the right choices and to act in the face of evil.

…..the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights] was the first global statement of what many now take for granted: the inherent dignity and equality of all human beings.

Let us never take our human rights for granted.  Let us uphold them, protect them, defend them, ensure that they are a living reality -- that they are known, understood and enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.  It is often those who most need their human rights protected who also need to be informed that the Declaration exists, and that it exists for them.

International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

 

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) is the primary inter-governmental body, established after the Stockholm Declaration, to encourage political and social leaders’ support behind the need for Holocaust education, remembrance and research both nationally and internationally. 

Asociatia Tikvah has been partially funded by the IHRA in a number of years to assist in raising awareness of the Holocaust and encouraging remembrance on 27 January in Northern Transylvania so assisting Romania in meeting its Stockholm commitment.

 We do this in a number of ways:

 

-Increasing awareness of the 27 January as the day to remember the Holocaust and reasserting the commitment to human rights. 

-Encouraging participation in events to commemorate the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.

-Providing tools and materials for educators so enabling them to hold events of their own.

  

Developments are posted on our Facebook and resources for teachers and others for download can be found on our Remembrance Resources page.