January 27 is designated by the United Nations General Assembly as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD). Since 2005, the UN and its member states have held commemoration ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism.
On November 1, 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 60/7 to designate January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD). The date marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and is meant to honor the victims of Nazism. The same resolution supports the development of educational programs to remember the Holocaust and to prevent further genocide.
Resolution 60/7 not only establishes January 27 as “International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust,” it also rejects any form of Holocaust denial. The resolution encourages member states of the UN to actively preserve sites that the Nazis used during the "Final Solution" View This Term in the Glossary (for example, killing centers, concentration camps, and prisons.) Drawing from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the resolution condemns all forms of “religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief” throughout the world.
The first commemoration ceremony was held on January 27, 2006, at the UN Headquarters in New York City. Nearly 2,200 people attended in person. Since the ceremony was broadcast live on television, many more people were able to view it throughout the world. The UN Headquarters holds official commemorations each year. Continue reading from US Holocaust Memorial Museum
International Holocaust Remembrance Day (US Holocaust Memorial Museum)
Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (UNESCO)
On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Revisit Stories from Survivors (NPR)
Holocaust Remembrance Day (US National Archives News)
International Holocaust Remembrance Day – January 27 (National Today)
Annual Holocaust Remembrance (United Nations)
Holocaust Remembrance Days (Encyclopedia Britannica)
The U.N. Marks Holocaust Remembrance Day with Testimonies from Survivors (Reuters YouTube)