HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE WEEK
24 JANUARY
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
An exhibit opening for No Child's Play – Remembrance and Beyond took place in the Visitors' Lobby. This travelling exhibit, produced by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, opens a window into the world of children during the Shoah. It focuses on toys, games, artwork, diaries and poems that highlight some of the personal stories of the children and provide a glimpse into their lives during the Holocaust. The exhibition tells the story of survival -- the struggle of these children to hold on to life.
Statements by:
- Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
- Ms. Yehudit Inbar, Curator of Exhibits, Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum
- Mr. Melvin Bukiet, Professor, Sarah Lawrence College
Featuring:
- Ms. Mischa Baker, a student at the United Nations International School read a copy of the poem “Dream” written in the Lodz Ghetto by 13 year old Avramek Koplowitz
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Screening of the movie “Fateless” by Lajos Koltai in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium.
- The movie, based on the novel with the same name by Nobel Literature Laureate Imre Kertesz, follows a 14-year Jewish boy from Budapest to the Buchenwald concentration camp
25 JANUARY
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Additional screening of the movie “Fateless” by Lajos Koltai in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium.
26 JANUARY
10:00 am – 12:00
An NGO briefing focusing on promoting tolerance and cross-cultural understanding was held in the Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium. [ Archived video]
Statements by:
- H.E. Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations
- Mr. Judea Pearl, of the Daniel Pearl Foundation
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
A solemn candlelight vigil in memory of the victims of the Holocaust was held in the Visitors' Lobby.
Welcoming remarks:
- Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
- Acting President of the General Assembly, H.E. Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations [General Assembly President's Message]
- Excerpts from the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be read by Holocaust Survivors: Ms. Lyubov Abramovich, Mr. Roman Kent, Ms. Johanna Liebman, Mr. David Mermelstein, Mr. Jack Polak, and Rabbi Arthur Schneier
- Cantor Joseph Malovany of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue will recite prayers
- An excerpt from “The Diary of Anne Frank” will be read by Ms. Jennifer Williams, a student at the United Nations International School
- Mr. Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
- The President of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly read by Acting President Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations
- H.E. Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations
- Mrs. Gerda Klein of the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation, Holocaust survivor, author, historian and speaker introduced by Mr. Roman Kent, Chairman, American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors
- Narration of photographs of Holocaust victims memorialized on “Pages of Testimony” in the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. They represent a fraction of the millions of Jewish Holocaust victims recorded in the Central Database of Shoah victims’ names, available online at www.yadvashem.org
- The Zamir Chorale of Boston, featuring selections from their album “Hear Our Voices: Songs of the Ghettos and Camps”
Artistic Director: Joshua Jacobson. Soloist: Jack Mendelson. Pianist: Edwin Swanborn. Singers: Anna Adler, Sarah Boling, Liz Carver, Chuck Claus, Steven Ebstein, Jason Frankel, Susan Glazer, Phil Goldman, Sharon Brown Goldstein, Silvia Golijoy, Andrew Greene, Marilyn Jaye, Jordan Lee Wagner, Anne Levy, Richard Lustig, Deborah Melkin, Matthew Onigman, Susan Rubin, Richard Samuels, Lawrence Sandberg, Nancy Sargon-Zarsky, Gilbert Schiffer, Deborah Sosin, Peter Squires, Michael Victor, Shawn Weil, Jody Weixelbaum, Phyllis Werlin, Deborah West, Barbara Wild
Statements by:
Featuring:
27 JANUARY
10:30 am – 12:00
A memorial ceremony and lecture in observance of the first universal International Day of commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust was held in the General Assembly Hall.
[ Archived video]
Welcoming remarks by:
Video-taped message from:
Statements by:
Images of Holocaust victims:
Performance by:
“Remembrance and Beyond” lecture by: