2006 Holocaust Remembrance Activities
around the world
The network of United Nations information centres, services and offices
commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day either individually or jointly with regional or local civil society partners and Governments.
Memorial ceremonies
These included special events in Bangkok, Rome (in collaboration with the Jewish community in Rome and the Rome Provincial Authority), and Eritrea (in cooperation with the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea). UNIS Geneva held a special ceremony where the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Permanent Representative of Israel in Geneva, and a survivor of the Holocaust spoke. “Never Again: A Concert for Life” was arranged by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Mexico.
Exhibitions
Photographic exhibits were mounted at United Nations offices in
Bangkok, Nairobi and Vienna; the United Nations Office at Nairobi also held a candlelight vigil. Civil society partnerships included a programme jointly arranged by UNIC Lusaka with the United Nations Association of Zambia and another held by UNIC Rio de Janeiro, which involved the Roma community.
Educational activities
In line with the programme’s mission to promote awareness of the lessons learned from the Holocaust, a number of United Nations offices organized forums for discussion of the issue. UNIC Ouagadougou hosted a seminar in partnership with the National Commission of Human Rights in Burkina Faso. UNIC Warsaw briefed Polish teachers at a programme organized by the National In-Service Teacher Training Centre and the Polish Association entitled “Children of the Holocaust”. UNIC Prague organized a public discussion with two holocaust survivors and conducted a public screening of two Czech documentaries about the quest of students for their Jewish neighbours who disappeared during the Second World War. A debate with the film’s producer and Holocaust survivors followed.
Media outreach
Media outreach by UNICs yielded articles in the local press in Bogota, Kyiv, La Paz, Tbilisi and Yangon. In addition, UNIC Buenos Aires created a special feature on its website.