2007 Holocaust Remembrance Activities around the world
The global network of United Nations information centres (UNICs), United Nations Information Service (UNIS) and United Nations Offices observed the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust in 2007 in partnership with civil society groups and Government representatives.
Memorial ceremonies
Solemn ceremonies were organized in Asmara (in cooperation with the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea), Asunción, Baku, Buenos Aires, Geneva, Lima, Moscow, Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Vienna, Washington, D.C. and Yerevan. One of the larger ceremonies was held at UNIS Geneva, which included statements by a Holocaust scholar, a survivor and two young volunteers from the International Youth Meeting Centre at Auschwitz.
Educational activities
UNIC Moscow, in partnership with the Holocaust Educational Centre, hosted a group of high school educators and non-governmental organization activists at the UNIC library to brief them on the significance of Holocaust Remembrance Day. UNIC Prague, in cooperation with the Jewish Museum, organized seven workshops in which high school students interacted with Holocaust survivors. UNIC Warsaw, along with the Shalom Foundation and Teachers Education Centre, organized a poster competition for high school students. The United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe (UNRIC) Brussels and the Portuguese Youth Institute produced a Holocaust remembrance video that was shown on the Lisbon Portuguese Youth Institute in-house television network and was shared with other United Nations offices in Lusophone countries.
Exhibitions
A week-long exhibition of 60 panels of photographs was mounted at UNIC Nairobi and two exhibitions, including on the theme “No Child’s Play”, from Yad Vashem, and paintings from the series “Art Against Oblivion” by a Holocaust survivor, were displayed at UNIS Vienna.
Media outreach
The information centres translated the message of the Secretary-General into local languages, including Azeri, Danish, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish and Ukrainian. Media outreach by the field offices yielded articles and/or radio interviews in the local press in Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Japan, Kenya, Paraguay, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States of America and Zimbabwe. In addition, many information centres created special features on their websites, including UNICs Buenos Aires and Prague, and UNRIC Brussels, as well as UNISs Geneva and Vienna, and the United Nations office in Ukraine. UNIS Bangkok provided the commemorative DVD of the programme to ASTV News1, which was broadcast during the month of February.