January 27th was chosen to commemorate the date when the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Red Army in 1945
This is a day set aside to remember our 6 million lost Jewish Siblings.
It is also a time to remember the other millions of lives lost – Roma, Sinti, Queer, Disabled, Black and Slavic folks from Russia and Poland, Communists, Trade Unionists, FreeMasons, Social Democrats, and anyone else deemed in opposition. They were targeted for a variety of reasons, sometimes political or financial, but often just because these peoples were deemed inferior.
This is a day to reflect on – but also to renew our commitment to oppose – the roots of this evil which still exist in our society and across the world.
The International Day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is thus a day on which we must reassert our commitment to human rights.
We must also go beyond remembrance, and make sure that new generations know this history. We must apply the lessons of the Holocaust to today’s world. And we must do our utmost so that all peoples may enjoy the protection and rights for which the United Nations stands.
— Message by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for the second observance of the Holocaust Victims Memorial Day on 19 January 2008
Websites and Articles:
Holocaust Encyclopedia: Who Were the Victims?
Canada, antisemitism and the Holocaust
Auschwitz, 75 years later
History.com: The Holocaust
Books:
13 Important Books About the Holocaust
19 Children’s and YA Books to Help Remember the Holocaust
Holocaust Survivors in Canada
The Night Trilogy
Blessed Be
