United Nations Headquarters to Host Holocaust Memorial Ceremony in General Assembly Hall, 28 January
The United Nations will mark the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust with a memorial ceremony, beginning on Monday, 28 January, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the General Assembly Hall.
One among several events organized to mark the 2019 International Day of Commemoration, the memorial ceremony will be hosted by Alison Smale, United Nations Under‑Secretary-General for Global Communications. The International Day’s theme, “Holocaust Remembrance: Demand and Defend Your Human Rights”, encourages youth to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust, act against discrimination and defend democratic values in their communities, at a time when the spread of neo-Nazism and hate groups fuels rising anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred around the world.
Speakers during the memorial ceremony will include António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations; María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador), President of the General Assembly; Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations; Jonathan R. Cohen, Chargé d’Affaires at the United States Mission to the United Nations; and Sandro De Bernardin, Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Sara J. Bloomfield, Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum since 1999, will serve as the keynote speaker. Marian Turski, Chair of the Council of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, will share his testimony as a survivor of the Holocaust. Inge Auerbacher will share her account as a child survivor of Theresienstadt, the former ghetto and concentration camp during the Second World War. Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky of the Park East Synagogue will recite the memorial prayers. The ceremony will include musical elements by the PS22 Chorus, directed by Gregg Breinberg. Guests are invited to follow the conversation at #holocaustremembrance. The ceremony will also be webcast live at webtv.un.org.
Other events to be held in New York on that day include the opening of the exhibition “Beyond Duty: Diplomats Recognized as Righteous Among the Nations” at 1:15 p.m. in the Visitors Lobby. It is presented by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and curated by Yad Vashem the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. It is sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Israel, Peru and Portugal and will be on view until 25 February. A discussion titled “India: A Distant Haven During the Holocaust”, will take place at 3 p.m. in Conference Room 2. It is sponsored by B’nai B’rith International and the Permanent Mission of India. An exhibition of photos by Agnieszka Traczewska, titled “Bracha. A Blessing. Back to Polish Shtetls.”, sponsored by the Permanent Mission of Poland and that country’s Consulate General in New York, will be on view in the Conference Building until 1 February.
To view the week’s calendar of events and registration details, please visit the Holocaust remembrance website at www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/2019/calendar2019.html. Valid photo identification is required to pass through United Nations security screening at the First Avenue entrance at 46th Street.
The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme is managed by the Department’s Education Outreach Section. Established by General Assembly resolution 60/7 in 2005, its multifaceted programme includes online and print educational products, seminars, exhibitions, a film series and the annual worldwide observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, held on 27 January. It also provides guidance on this observance to the global network of United Nations information centres. This year, they will organize more than 110 Holocaust remembrance and education activities in 32 countries.
For more information, please contact Kimberly Mann, Chief, Education Outreach Section, at email: mann@un.org; or Tracey Petersen, Holocaust and United Nations Outreach Programme, at email: petersen3@un.org. For media accreditation, please contact the Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit at www.un.org/en/media/accreditation.