January 1, 2023
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is January 27
In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly called on nations to mark January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
On this day, the millions of lives lost during the Holocaust are remembered: six million Jews, 250,000 people with disabilities, 250,000 Romani people, nearly 2,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, and hundreds, possibly thousands, of LGBTQ+ individuals.
2023 marks the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945.
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Second World War and Holocaust survivors are few, and these events will soon pass out of living memory. It is imperative to take any opportunity to hear or read from first-hand accounts.
Museums across the country and world work tirelessly to preserve and teach the history of the war and the genocide:
In Seattle, the Holocaust Center for Humanity holds community programs that use our history to impart lessons on morality, choice, and actively remembering so you can stop history from repeating itself. In addition to educational artifacts, the Center also brings stories from first and second generation survivors to the public. Join their virtual lunch & learn series to hear notable speakers and historical experts discuss timely topics.
Watch 30 Second History Lesson: Horrors of the Holocaust are Still being Discovered from the Smithsonian Channel
The free United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. is a living memorial to the Holocaust, encouraging people to educate themselves about the Holocaust, confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity.
Watch USHMM’s “Conversations with Holocaust Survivors“
The Holocaust Galleries at the Imperial War Museum in London are dedicated to conserving, displaying and interpreting stories of the most devastating conflict in human history.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) and UNESCO established aboutholocaust.org with the goal of providing young people with essential information about the history of the Holocaust and its legacy.
#WeRemember is a global commemoration campaign of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and UNESCO to raise awareness about the importance of remembrance culture for the present, leveraging social media to make a public commitment to remember.
The #ProtectTheFacts campaign seeks to increase awareness of Holocaust distortion. It empowers individuals to identify and counter Holocaust distortion in society and on social media.
Support
Consider making a one-time gift or set up payroll deduction to a UWCFD nonprofit organization that supports preserving the history of the Holocaust and extending the lessons learned from the genocide to our modern lives:
Holocaust Center for Humanity (charity code 1478791): The Center’s mission is to inspire teaching and learning for humanity. Through educational programs and the preservation of artifacts students learn to connect the lessons of the past to the moral choices made today.
American Jewish Committee (charity code 1478489): AJC works to safeguard minorities, fight terrorism, anti-Semitism, hatred and bigotry, pursue social justice, advance human dignity, defend religious freedom, and provide humanitarian relief.
American Jewish World Service (charity code 0315532): Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, American Jewish World Service AJWS works to realize human rights and end poverty in the developing world.
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle (charity code 0315691): We nurture Jewish identity and build Jewish community. Through leadership encouragement of strategic partnerships we develop leverage resources to address needs and solve community problems. We allocate funds locally, nationally, and overseas.
Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (charity code 1480693): Provides ongoing financial support to some 850 aged and needy Christians who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust and preserves the memory of these men and women through our national Holocaust education program.
The Jewish Women’s Archive (charity code 1480504): The Jewish Women’s Archive is the world’s leading source of information on Jewish women in America. Its website provides free access to a wide variety of materials, including online exhibits and collections, an encyclopedia about Jewish women through history, educational resources, podcasts, and a blog. JWA believes that we owe present and future generations an accurate picture of our past.
