FORUM: "Holocaust Remembrance for Dignity and Human Rights." International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust 2025. This year marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War and the Holocaust. Eighty years ago, in response to the atrocities of the war and the Holocaust, governments of the world established the United Nations, pledging to work together to build a just world where human rights were enshrined, and all could live with dignity, in peace. Acknowledging the milestone year, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme has chosen as its guiding theme for 2025, “Holocaust remembrance and education for dignity and human rights”. The theme reflects the critical relevance of Holocaust remembrance for the present, where the dignity and human rights of our fellow global citizens are under daily attack. The Holocaust shows what happens when hatred, dehumanization and apathy win. Its remembrance is a bulwark against the denigration of humanity, and a clarion call for collective action to ensure respect for dignity and human rights, and the international law that protects both. Holocaust remembrance safeguards the memories of survivors and their testament of life before the Holocaust – of vibrant communities, of traditions, of hopes and dreams, of loved ones who did not survive. Safeguarding the history brings dignity to those the Nazis and their collaborators sought to destroy. Remembrance of the Holocaust is a victory against the Nazis and their collaborators, and against all who would try to continue their legacy through spreading hatred, Holocaust distortion and denial into the 21st century. Share your reflections with the hashtags: #27January, #HolocaustRemembranceDay.
On 27 January 1945, 80 years ago today, horrified and exhausted Soviet troops entered the Auschwitz-Birkenau German Nazi concentration and extermination camp and liberated the approximately 7,000 prisoners who had survived.Every year, this symbolic date urges the international community to remember the 6 million Jews who were murdered alongside countless other victims of Nazi brutality.At a time when there are fewer and fewer direct witnesses of the Holocaust, marking the twilight of what historian Annette Wieviorka calls "the era of the witness", we must commit ourselves with ever greater gravity to the perpetuation of its memory. Firstly, we must do so by preserving the very places where the horror occurred, so that we never stop believing in what was an utterly unbelievable event. In 1979, UNESCO proclaimed Auschwitz-Birkenau a world heritage site, thus contributing to the memorial nature of the structure which had housed a death camp. This inscription affirmed the mobilization of universal awareness with regard to a phenomenon which had consisted in the desire to sever off part of humanity. UNESCO's ongoing contribution to this memorial structure is reflected in a historic agreement signed just one year ago. After 14 years of diplomatic negotiations conducted under the aegis of our Organization, this agreement between the six States of the former Yugoslavia provides for the reopening of a permanent exhibition designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind, in a renovated shared pavilion. UNESCO also supports the Counter Extremism Project's creation of a new centre for research on hate, extremism and radicalization in the former house of the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, directly adjacent to the camp. This centre, called ARCHER at House 88, will offer fellowship programmes for young researchers, in conjunction with UNESCO university chairs dedicated to research on the Holocaust, violent pasts, and the prevention of antisemitism and extremism.Honouring the memory of the victims of the Holocaust also means valuing the Jewish cultural heritage which the Nazis set out to destroy. To this end, UNESCO inscribed, in 2021, the sites of Speyer, Worms and Mainz on the World Heritage List, and, in 2023, the sites of Erfurt and the El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba. Yet we cannot cultivate the memory of a place without conveying its meaning to the younger generations. In this respect, education plays an essential role, as it enables us to pass on an understanding of the history of the Holocaust in its universal dimension. For the Holocaust reveals something about the human species which cannot be reduced to a single era or a single people. The worst can happen again wherever the necessary conditions are present.
In order to prevent antisemitic, racist and xenophobic violence from being unleashed amid ignorance of the past, UNESCO and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum jointly developed the International Program on Holocaust and Genocide Education. For 10 years now, UNESCO has thus worked with 24 countries to ensure that school curricula and textbooks reflect violent pasts based on the facts. We must face reality: teaching people about the memory of the Holocaust has become an increasingly difficult task in the light of the resurgence of antisemitism on a massive scale. That is why UNESCO, in conjunction with the European Commission and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has set up a training programme for teachers - who are on the front line when it comes to dealing with hate speech in schools. Already available in 12 countries, these training courses are being extended to all European Union Member States this year.In the age of social networks, where hate speech proliferates anonymously, it is also vital to adapt our actions. Algorithms amplify Holocaust denial, as shown by UNESCO in a report published in partnership with the World Jewish Congress: AI and the Holocaust: Rewriting History? The fight against Holocaust denial and the distortion of the history of the Holocaust must be waged on all fronts. Also in conjunction with the World Jewish Congress, UNESCO has persuaded Meta and TikTok to redirect people seeking information about the Holocaust to a reliable site: About Holocaust.org. Available in 19 languages, the site received over 4.4 million visitors in 2024 alone. On this International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, UNESCO calls on the international community to remain fully mobilized on all fronts to ensure that we never let happen again what the American lawyer Samuel Pisar called "the greatest catastrophe ever perpetrated by man against man".
In order to prevent antisemitic, racist and xenophobic violence from being unleashed amid ignorance of the past, UNESCO and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum jointly developed the International Program on Holocaust and Genocide Education. For 10 years now, UNESCO has thus worked with 24 countries to ensure that school curricula and textbooks reflect violent pasts based on the facts. We must face reality: teaching people about the memory of the Holocaust has become an increasingly difficult task in the light of the resurgence of antisemitism on a massive scale. That is why UNESCO, in conjunction with the European Commission and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), has set up a training programme for teachers - who are on the front line when it comes to dealing with hate speech in schools. Already available in 12 countries, these training courses are being extended to all European Union Member States this year.In the age of social networks, where hate speech proliferates anonymously, it is also vital to adapt our actions. Algorithms amplify Holocaust denial, as shown by UNESCO in a report published in partnership with the World Jewish Congress: AI and the Holocaust: Rewriting History? The fight against Holocaust denial and the distortion of the history of the Holocaust must be waged on all fronts. Also in conjunction with the World Jewish Congress, UNESCO has persuaded Meta and TikTok to redirect people seeking information about the Holocaust to a reliable site: About Holocaust.org. Available in 19 languages, the site received over 4.4 million visitors in 2024 alone. On this International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, UNESCO calls on the international community to remain fully mobilized on all fronts to ensure that we never let happen again what the American lawyer Samuel Pisar called "the greatest catastrophe ever perpetrated by man against man".
Ms Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General.
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EVENTS: 2025 Commemorative events to observe the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Explore the Calendar of Events!
EVENTS: 2025 Commemorative events to observe the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Explore the Calendar of Events!
The official ceremony of the United Nations Office at Geneva will pay tribute to those who perished in Nazi death camps.
Mr. Ivan Lefkovits, Holocaust survivor of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, will speak about his
family experience of loss and survival.
After watching a video message from the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, the following speakers will deliver remarks:
• Ms. Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva
• His Excellency Mr. Daniel Martin Meron, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva
• Her Excellency Lotte Knudsen, Ambassador and Head of the Permanent Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations Office at Geneva
Musical performance by children's choir from the La Châtaigneraie Choir (Ecolint). Watch the observance!
The annual Holocaust Memorial Ceremony is the central event organized in observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
The ceremony will be held on 27 January 2025 in the United Nations General Assembly Hall, under the theme "Holocaust Remembrance for Dignity and Human Rights". The Holocaust Memorial Ceremony takes place on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on 27 January 1945.
The observance will be hosted by Ms. Melissa Fleming, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. Survivors of the Holocaust will share their testimonies along with invited speakers who include the United Nations Secretary-General; the President of the 79th session of the General Assembly and representatives of Member States. Watch the commemoration!
