Note to Correspondents

United Nations to Mark Liberation of Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

with Film at Headquarters, 2 May

 

To mark the sixty-sixth anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, the United Nations Department of Public Information will screen the film The Relief of Belsen on 2 May, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber, North Lawn Building at New York Headquarters.

The Relief of Belsen brings to the screen the true story of the massive humanitarian relief effort by the British army upon assuming responsibility for the prisoners held in the former Nazi concentration camp in April 1945.  Written by Justin Hardy and Peter Guinness, the award-winning film was produced by Sue Horth.

As the German army evacuated inmates from other camps closer to the front, Bergen-Belsen became overwhelmed with thousands of Jews and other prisoners who were dying of starvation, typhus and other diseases.  Yet, with the help of the British Medical Corps, many survived.

Making opening remarks at the screening will be Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, and Mark Lyall Grant, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, as co-sponsor of the event.

The screening will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Menachem Rosensaft, who was born in the Belsen Displaced Persons camp and whose father headed the Jewish Committee that administered the camp and whose mother served as a medical doctor there; and Atina Grossman, Professor of Modern German and European History at the Cooper Union in New York City and an expert on the history of Bergen-Belsen.  Kimberly Mann, Manager of the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, will moderate.

All guests must pre-register to take part in the event.  Photo identification will be required and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.  To register, please RSVP to e-mail:  holocaustremembrance@un.org.

The event is part of the film series organized by the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme, Outreach Division, Department of Public Information.  The Holocaust Programme produces educational materials and events to encourage learning about and remembrance of the Holocaust, in order to help prevent future acts of genocide.

For more information, please visit www.un.org/holocaustremembrance.

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For information media • not an official record