The United Nations annual ceremony marking the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust will take place virtually this year, and will be livestreamed worldwide on 27 January at 11 a.m. Under the theme “Memory, Dignity and Justice”, the ceremony is an expression of the United Nations unwavering commitment to promoting human rights, countering anti-Semitism and racism, and to preventing future genocide.
Melissa Fleming, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, will host the ceremony. Speakers include the Secretary-General; the President of the General Assembly; and the Permanent Representatives of Israel and the United States. Holocaust scholar and philosopher, Professor John K. Roth will deliver the keynote address.
The ceremony will include testimonies from the Holocaust survivors from Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States; children and grandchildren of Jewish and Romani Holocaust survivors; and speakers from diverse regions, age, gender and ethnicity, who will share how their values, choices and commitments to advancing human rights have been shaped by their encounters with the history of the Holocaust. Alice Nderitu, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide is featured.
Violinist Pinchas Zukerman and pianist Shai Wosner will perform Berceuse Sfaradite (Sephardic Lullaby) by Paul Ben-Haim (1897–1984). Rabbi Arthur Schneier of Park East Synagogue and Cantor Daniel Mendelson of Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, New York, will recite memorial prayers.
The ceremony can be watched on UN Web TV, the United Nations YouTube channel or the Twitter and Facebook pages of UN WebTV. Guests are invited to register and receive links and updates about the ceremony, or follow the conversation on social media with the hashtag #HolocaustRemembrance.
Other Holocaust remembrance and education events in early 2022 include the exhibition “After the End of the World: Displaced Persons and Displaced Persons Camps” on view at United Nations Headquarters through 20 February; a virtual civil society briefing “The Future of Memory: Holocaust Remembrance, History and New Media” (3 February); virtual screenings and discussion of the documentary The Last Survivors (10 February); and a virtual discussion with Elisabeth Anthony, author of The Compromise of Return: Viennese Jews after the Holocaust (17 February).
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, Department of Global Communications, was established by General Assembly resolution 60/7 in 2005 to remind the world of the perspective that the Holocaust provides relevant to preventing future genocides. The Programme has established a global network of partners and developed versatile initiatives including educational resources, professional development programmes, panel discussions and exhibitions.
For more information, please contact Tracey Petersen at email: petersen3@un.org.
