Today (27/01/2024) marks the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in south-west Poland by Allied troops. In 2005, the United Nations designated 27 January as an annual event to commemorate the horrors of the Holocaust and to remember all those who died during it.
The Holocaust was the systematic killing of over six million Jewish people by the Nazi regime during the Second World War. Imposing what they termed the “Final Solution”, the Nazis sought to eliminate as much of the world’s Jewish population as possible through pogroms, hard labour, and extermination camps. Although bearing the brunt of Nazis genocide, the Jewish population was not the only group to suffer persecution and extermination. The regime also sought the annihilation of the Roma community, people with physical and mental disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as political and religious dissidents. Over a million people died in Auschwitz, in what has come to symbolise mankind's potential for destruction and clinical violence.
We invite all to take a moment today to remember the brutal suffering and grave injustices of the Holocaust. Through commemoration we hope not only to pay respect, but also to inform contemporary debate so as to ensure that we never repeat the atrocities of the past.
For more information about this event, visit: https://www.unesco.org/en/days/holocaust-remembrance