United Nations Marks 2023 International Day to Commemorate Holocaust Victims under Theme ‘Home and Belonging’

On Friday, 27 January, the United Nations will observe the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust under the theme “Home and Belonging”.  The memorial ceremony will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST in the General Assembly Hall, United Nations Headquarters, New York.  The event will be attended by members of the diplomatic corps, Holocaust survivors and their families, veterans, civil society organizations and the general public.  The memorial is organized by the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme of the United Nations Department of Global Communications.

Victims of the Holocaust had their homes, their nationalities, and sense of belonging ripped from them by the Nazis and their racist collaborators.  The violence of exclusion began with disinformation and hate speech that sought to normalize systemic injustice, discrimination and marginalization, and ended with genocidal killing.  The theme, “Home and Belonging”, highlights the multidimensional human needs of victims of atrocity crimes and the dangers of hate speech, antisemitism, Holocaust distortion and denial, and prejudice.

Speakers include the United Nations Secretary-General, the President of the seventy-seventh session of the General Assembly, the Permanent Representative of Israel and a representative from the United States Mission to the United Nations.  Renowned Holocaust scholar Professor Debórah Dwork will deliver the keynote address.  Speakers include Jacques Grishaver, Holocaust survivor and Chair of the Netherlands Auschwitz Committee; Professor Ethel Brooks, Roma and Sinti scholar; and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, Professor Karen Frostig and Michael Shaham.  Mr. Shaham will perform on a “Violin of Hope”.  Other musicians include Shoshana Shattenkirk, and Professor Renée Jolles who will perform a piece for violin specially composed by Victoria Bond for the 2023 Holocaust memorial ceremony.  Cantor Nissim Saal will recite the memorial prayer.  The memorial ceremony will be hosted by Melissa Fleming, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.

The ceremony can be watched on United Nations WebTV, the United Nations YouTube channel, or the Twitter account of United Nations WebTV.  Guests are invited to register and receive links and updates about the ceremony or follow the event on social media with the hashtag #HolocaustRemembrance.

Programme of Holocaust Remembrance and Educational Events in January and February at United Nations Headquarters:

• Three Exhibitions:
  • After the End of the World: Displaced Persons and Displaced Persons Camps (10 January-23 February)
  • #Fake Images: Unmask the Dangers of Stereotypes (16 January – 20 February 2023)
  • The Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims (26 January – 17 February)
• Human Rights on Trial:  the International Mock Trial on Human Rights (31 January)
• Screening of The US and the Holocaust and discussion with Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and guests (9 February)
• Civil society briefing titled “Social Media and the Holocaust - Education or Distortion?” (16 February)

Holocaust Commemoration and Education around the World

United Nations Information Centres will host Holocaust remembrance and education activities with their local partners, including the resident coordinator offices, United Nations agencies, embassies, academic and civil society organizations, with support and guidance of the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme.

Two thousand twenty-three is the seventy-fifth anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention.

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme was established by General Assembly resolution 60/7 in 2005.  Its multifaceted programme encompasses a variety of online and print educational resources, panel discussions, 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.  For more information about the programme please visit: https://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/about-us.

For more information, please contact Tracey Petersen at petersen3@un.org.