2022 Holocaust Remembrance – 27 January

In 2022, the theme guiding the United Nations Holocaust remembrance and education is “Memory, Dignity and Justice”. Holocaust commemoration and education is a global imperative in the third decade of the 21st century. The writing of history and the act of remembering brings dignity and justice to those whom the perpetrators of the Holocaust intended to obliterate. Safeguarding the historical record, remembering the victims, challenging the distortion of history often expressed in contemporary antisemitism, are critical aspects of claiming justice after atrocity crimes. The theme encompasses these concerns.

Holocaust commemorative and educational activities will draw attention to the actions taken by Holocaust survivors in the immediate years following the devastation and brutality of the Holocaust, to reclaim their rights, their history, their cultural heritage and traditions, and their dignity. The role played by institutions and individuals in supporting survivors, the long-reaching impact of the Holocaust on survivors’ families, and the impact of the Holocaust on the shaping of human rights policy and interventions will be explored. The theme encourages action to challenge hatred, strengthen solidarity and champion compassion. The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme is an expression of the unwavering commitment of the United Nations to promoting human rights, to countering antisemitism and racism, and to preventing future genocide.

Message of the Chancellor of Germany – Dr. Angela Merkel, 27 January 2021

Ladies and gentlemen,

76 years ago today, on 27 January 1945, the concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated.

What happened there and in many other places where atrocities were committed during the National Socialist period is and remains beyond belief. I am deeply ashamed of the Shoah, of that betrayal of all civilised values, perpetrated under the National Socialist regime.

It is and remains Germany’s everlasting responsibility to remember these events and to commemorate the victims:

• the European Jews,
• the Sinti and Roma,
• the political prisoners and members of the intelligentsia in Poland,
• the prisoners of war from the Soviet Union and other countries,
• the resistance fighters,
• the homosexuals,
• the people with disabilities,
• and countless other men, women and children, who were humiliated, persecuted, tortured and murdered.

We must never forget these people and their fates.

My special thanks go to the survivors who muster the strength to tell the story of their lives. Their first-hand accounts show us just how vulnerable human dignity is and how easily the values that underpin peaceful coexistence can be violated.

We must stand with the utmost determination against antisemitism, be it open or veiled, and against denial or diminishing of the Holocaust. We are guided by this conviction also during the German Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Today is the first time that this event has been organised jointly by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the United Nations and UNESCO. I am very grateful for this special demonstration of unity and resolve. For it is not only on anniversaries and remembrance days that our resolve is needed, but every day. We must be constantly vigilant to ensure that we cede no ground to antisemitism and racism.

We honour the victims of the Holocaust by remembering them and by learning from their plight. That is our everlasting responsibility – for today’s and future generations.

To read more about Holocaust Remembrance Week and the calender of events marking , click this link (opens in new window).