by Leah Goldstein

On 1 November 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 27 January as “International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.” Israel’s Ministerial Committee on Symbols and Ceremonies, chaired by Minister Dan Naveh, noted that while Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel would remain 27 Nissan, Israel would show solidarity with other countries marking 27 January. The Committee adopted the recommendations of the inter-office working group established under the chairmanship of Avner Shalev, to focus in particular on educational activities addressing the international significance of Holocaust remembrance.

In advance of 27 January, Yad Vashem launched a new mini-site accessible from its website, aimed at providing information on the Holocaust, as well as helping schools and other organizations around the world prepare to mark the day. The day itself was marked by a number of high-profile ceremonies, exhibitions and educational initiatives: at the UN, in Israel and in scores of countries around the globe, many in cooperation with Yad Vashem. Below are some highlights of the events surrounding the first International Holocaust Remembrance Day:

On 27 January, the UN General Assembly opened a special session with two minutes of silence in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Gillerman addressed the delegates, and Academic Advisor to Yad Vashem Prof. Yehuda Bauer was the keynote speaker. The names and photographs of Holocaust victims from Yad Vashem’s Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names were also screened during the session.

The UN devoted a full week of events to International Holocaust Remembrance Day, including the display of Yad Vashem’s “No Child’s Play” exhibit in the UN building in New York. Also participating in the events were: UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Relations Shashi Tharoor (pictured); Chairman of the American Society for Yad Vashem Eli Zborowski; Vice Chairman of the American Society Eugen Gluck; member of the Executive of the American Society Prof. Melvin Bukiet; and exhibition curator and Director of Yad Vashem’s Museums Division Yehudit Inbar.

On 26 January, the Israeli Government held a special Cabinet meeting at Yad Vashem. Chairman of the Directorate Avner Shalev participated in the Cabinet meeting and guided government ministers on a special tour of the new Holocaust History Museum. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert thanked Yad Vashem and expressed his hope “that this step will lead to the awareness of the Holocaust being instilled in many societies around the world…and a reduction in antisemitism and Holocaust denial, which in recent years, to my regret, we have witnessed with concern.”

During the meeting, members of the government received a report on antisemitism around the world and agreed to work towards the renovation of the Jewish Pavilion at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. To this end, the government established an inter-ministerial committee headed by the Government Secretary and with the participation of Yad Vashem, the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel and the Jewish Agency. The government charged Yad Vashem to draft a proposal for and implement the renovation work on the Pavilion according to the given budget, in coordination with the directorate of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and the Government of Poland.

On the same day, a special session dedicated to International Holocaust Remembrance Day was held at the Knesset. Participating in the session were Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, ministers and other members of Knesset.

Yad Vashem opened a new exhibition: “Montparnasse Déporté—The End of l’Ecole de Paris” on 26 January, under the auspices of the French Embassy in Israel and in cooperation with the Montparnasse Museum, Paris. Minister of Education, Culture and Sport Meir Sheetrit, French Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Gerard Araud (pictured), Yad Vashem Art Department Director and Senior Art Curator Yehudit Shendar, and dozens of ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps attended the opening.

The exhibition, which will run until 25 May 2006, presents the artwork and life stories of Jewish artists living in Paris—most of whom were murdered in the death camps—together with photographs and original documents relating to the artists themselves.
At the event, Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev said: “Their lives were devoted to the best of humankind: they wanted to express the love that exists in humanity. Their works, displayed here in the exhibition, survived, and with them hope for the future.”
The exhibition was made possible by the generous contribution of: Groupe Segula Technologies, France; Sylvia and Boris Samujlovic z”l, Brazil and Israel; Le Comité Francais pour Yad Vashem; Leumi, Israel; and Buchman Foundation representative Rosine Bron, France.

The Belgian Chairmanship of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, with 55 member states) hosted a commemorative event for the victims of the Holocaust on 27 January, at Egmont Palace in Brussels. At the event, the “Guidelines on preparing Holocaust Memorial Days for Educators” was launched (see p.8). OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Director Ambassador Christian Strohal attended the ceremony, explaining: “It is vital for OSCE states to provide today’s generation with the ability to comprehend the meaning of the total destruction and the unimaginable harm imposed by humans against humanity.”

Also present were Belgian representative to the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research, Ambassador Jan Deboutte; Special Envoy of the Belgian OSCE Chairmanship, M. Pierre Chevalier; Director-General of the Belgian Friends of Yad Vashem, Yvette Blauberg Graubart; Founder of the Mechelen Museum of Deportation and Resistance, Mr. Nathan Ramet; and Director of Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies, Dr. Motti Shalem.

On January 26, Ministry of Education supervisors and managers from throughout the country attended a special seminar at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies. Minister of Education, Culture and Sport Meir Sheetrit (pictured) and Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa Rabbi Israel Meir Lau participated in the seminar, which dealt with different aspects of the UN resolution, including the place of the Holocaust in world conscience, and Holocaust remembrance in Israeli and Jewish consciousness.

The International Institute for Holocaust Research Also on 26 January, Yad Vashem’s held a seminar on 26 january on the late German philosopher Karl Jaspers’ book, The Question of German Guilt, coinciding with the book’s publication in Hebrew by Yad Vashem and Magnes Press. Editors of the book, Prof. Yacov Golomb of the Hebrew University and Head of the Institute Prof. David Bankier, took part in the seminar, alongside professors from the Hebrew University and the University of Bar-Ilan. The lectures dealt with the question of individual and collective guilt, as explored by Jaspers, from the philosophical, sociological and political points of view. They were accompanied by discussions with extensive audience participation.

In Spain, the country’s King, Queen and Prime Minister, as well as the President of the Constitutional Court, the Congress President, Government Ministers, the Mayor of Madrid and President of the Spanish Society for Yad Vashem Isaac Querub attended an official ceremony to mark the day. The Prime Minister voiced his commitment to collaborate with Yad Vashem and the International Task Force on Holocaust Education. The Spanish government also requested that the “No Child’s Play” traveling exhibition be used countrywide as a focus of educational and public activities around the subject of the Holocaust.

In Thailand, Yad Vashem’s exhibition, “Auschwitz—The Depth of the Abyss,” displayed at the UN last year, was opened by Israel’s Ambassador at the UN Conference Center in Bankok. Guests from the Royal Thai Government, UN and Israel Embassy officials and a number of ambassadors viewed the exhibition.

The “Generation to Generation—Bearers of the Holocaust and Heroism Legacy” organization gathered at the International School for Holocaust Studies’ branch in Beit Wolyn, Givatayim, on 26 January for a special session and general assembly, entitled “Preserving the Memory.” Participants in the session—including survivors and members of the Second and Third Generations—heard addresses from former Minister of Education Yossi Sarid MK, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee for the Location and Restitution of Property of Holocaust Victims Colette Avital MK, Chairman of the “Generation to Generation” Association Dr. Yossi Shub, and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev.

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