Marking International Day of Commemoration, Holocaust Exhibit at United Nations Headquarters Recounts Comprehensive History from 1933 to 1945

A new multi-media exhibit on the Holocaust will open in the Visitors Lobby on Monday, 26 January 6 p.m., as part of a week-long series of Holocaust remembrance activities at the United Nations.  The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is 27 January and the theme of this year's observance is "Liberty, Life and the Legacy of the Holocaust Survivors”.

The Yad Vashem exhibit, “Shoah — How Was It Humanly Possible?” was created with the generous support of Cindy and Gerald Barad.  The exhibition uses texts, images and video clips to recount a comprehensive history of the Holocaust from 1933 to 1945.  Topics include Jewish life in Europe between the two world wars, Nazi ideology, Jewish and non-Jewish responses (victims, bystanders and perpetrators), the Final Solution and liberation and the return to life of the survivors.  The exhibition will remain on display at the United Nations through February 2015.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, will deliver remarks at the opening ceremony.  Maher Nasser, Acting Head of the Department of Public Information will act as master of ceremonies.  Statements will also be made by Ron Prosor, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, Dr. Miriam Adelson, second generation Holocaust survivor and co-founder of the Adelson Family Foundation, and Leonard Wilf, Chairman of the American Society for Yad Vashem.  Also in attendance will be Avner Shalev, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate, and Holocaust survivors.

This traveling exhibit is presented at the United Nations by Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, Israel, in cooperation with the American Society for Yad Vashem, and the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations.  For more information on Yad Vashem, please visit www.yadvashem.org.

Holocaust remembrance activities at the United Nations are led by the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme of the Department of Public Information.  The Programme, as established by General Assembly resolution 60/7, aims to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help prevent future acts of genocide.

For more information, please write to holocaustremembrance@un.org or visit www.un.org/holocaustremembrance.

The United Nations exhibit galleries are free of charge and open to the public Mondays through Fridays in January and February from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  A valid government-issued photo identification is required to enter the United Nations.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, please contact Renata Morteo at tel.: +1 212 963 5455, or e-mail:  morteo@un.org.