Events around the world are commemorating the 79th anniversary of the Holocaust
Saturday (27) marked the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
January 27th has been declared by the United Nations as the International Day to Remember the Victims of the Horrors of the Holocaust.
Six million Jews as well as Gypsies and other minorities were murdered by the Nazi regime and its allies during World War II.
In Auschwitz, survivors took part in a ceremony.
Bernard Offen, 94 years old, is one of the surviving victims. “It pains me that something like this is happening today. The Holocaust happened out of hatred for others, especially Jews. “We are in a very dangerous time on this planet,” he said.
1 of 1 More than 300 events are planned to commemorate 79 years of the Holocaust Photo: Reproduction More than 300 events are planned to commemorate 79 years of the Holocaust Photo: Reproduction
A minute's silence was observed in New York during the UN meeting.
The head of America's Office to Combat AntiSemitism, Deborah Lipstadt, said the Holocaust was a testament to the dangers of prejudice, discrimination and dehumanization. It is a stark reminder of the catastrophic consequences of unbridled hatred.
United Nations SecretaryGeneral António Guterres warned that the world was witnessing a worrying spread of hatred, recalling that the date was even more important after the brutal Hamas attack in October.
More than 300 demonstrations are planned this weekend to commemorate the victims.
Pope Francis also remembered the victims of the Holocaust in the Vatican.
“War itself is the negation of humanity. “Let us not tire of praying for peace, for an end to conflict, for an end to weapons and for us to be saved,” urged Francis, who said he also thought about the Middle East, Palestine, Israel and Ukraine thinks, above all, of “bombings that hit civilianinhabited areas and spread death, destruction and suffering.”