January 27 has been designated by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The date marks the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps in 1945. In March 1942, Slovakia signed an agreement with Germany that permitted the deportation of the Slovak Jews. In total, German and Slovak authorities deported more than 70,000 Jews from Slovakia; the Germans murdered more than 60,000 of them.
“If society is blind to historical facts, it will be condemned to repeat tragic moments”, said President Zuzana Caputova during a commemorative event to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Holocaust Victims Memorial in Bratislava on Friday. Although eight decades have passed since the horrors of the Holocaust during World War II, there are still attempts to deny and downplay the atrocities, stated the president. "We also witness open hatred, both verbal and physical, towards Jews and other minorities," she said, stressing the need not only to recall history, but to learn from it.
The 2023 theme, “Home and Belonging”, highlights the multidimensional human needs of victims of atrocity crimes and the dangers of hate speech, antisemitism, Holocaust distortion and denial, and prejudice. On 27 January 2023 the United Nations Office at Geneva is hosting an official commemoration. In addition, the United Nations Office at Geneva, together with the EU Delegation and the Permanent Missions of Israel, Slovakia, and Czechia, the World Jewish Congress, and ASWE will organize an exhibition entitled "Days Beyond Time - Artist Meets Testimony”.
Also this year the international #WeRemember campaign is joined by several Slovak institutions, especially from the culture sphere. You can also find themed reports in Radio Slovakia International’s programming.
Source: TASR
