"This year, we pay special tribute to the women who suffered in the Holocaust. Mothers and daughters, grandmothers, sisters and aunts, they saw their lives irrevocably changed, their families separated and their traditions shattered. Yet, despite appalling acts of discrimination, deprivation and cruelty, they consistently found ways to fight back against their persecutors.
They joined the resistance, rescued those in peril, smuggled food into ghettos and made wrenching sacrifices to keep their children alive. Their courage continues to inspire. On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, let us honour these women and their legacy. Let us pledge to create a world where such atrocities can never be repeated".
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 27 January 2011
2011 Calendar of Holocaust Remembrance Events
On the observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, the Holocaust Programme organized a series of events on the week of 24 January 2011 at United Nations Headquarters. United Nations Information Centres around the world also organized memorial ceremonies and educational activities.
Monday 24 January 2011
-
Exhibit Opening: The Memories Live On
Contact: mail@americangathering.org
Venue: United Nations Public Lobby
The exhibition The Memories Live On presents drawings of Auschwitz made by an unknown prisoner of the concentration and death camp and focuses on the legacy of the survivors to young people. This exhibition is sponsored by the International Auschwitz Committee in Germany, the State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, the International Youth Meeting Centre Oswiecim/Auschwitz in Poland, the Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand in Germany and the United States Mission to the United Nations. The exhibition was on display until 28 February 2011.
Master of Ceremonies: Kiyo Akasaka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information
Speakers:
- H.E. Mr. Peter Wittig, Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations
- Roman Kent, Auschwitz Survivor, New York
- Ilona Hefft, Trainee, Volkswagen Coaching, Emden/Wolfsburg
- Marian Turski, Auschwitz Survivor, Warsaw
- Hélène Berr, A Stolen Life, curated by the Mémorial de la Shoah in France, was on display until 28 February 2011. Through excerpts of the journal kept by this young Jewish woman, this exhibition documents the persecution of Jews in Occupied France during World War II. Hélène Berr died in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in 1945.
Tuesday 25 January 2011
- Screening of the film “Daring to Resist”, 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Contact and Registration: Holocaustremembrance@un.org
Venue: Temporary North Lawn Building, ECOSOC Chamber
Distributed by Women Make Movies, the documentary film Daring to Resist features the stories of three young Jewish women who found unexpected ways to fight back against the Nazis during the Holocaust: one became a partisan, another shuttled Jews to safe houses and distributed resistance newspapers and a third smuggled Jews across the border. The screening was followed by a discussion with Mr. Frank Blaichman, former partisan, and Ms. Bonnie Gurewitsch, Archivist/Curator, Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, NYC.
Download the Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation Study Guide
"Frank Blaichman: Jewish Partisan Platoon Commander" [PDF, 900 KB]
Monday 31 January 2011
- DPI/NGO Briefing “Unexpected Saviours: The Role of Turkey in Assisting Victims during the Holocaust”
(watch archived video)
The briefing highlighted the little known history of the role of Turkish diplomats and consuls in the rescue of Jewish people during the Holocaust. In addition to the presentations and a Q&A session, excerpts from the documentary entitled “Desperate Hours” were screened. The event also paid tribute to the memory of women who were murdered during the Holocaust.
Panellists:
- H.E. Mr. Ertuğrul Apakan, the Ambassador of Turkey to the UN
- Dr. Arnold Reisman, Professor Emeritus of Case Western Reserve University, an engineer, scholar and author
- Ms. Arielle Evans, Tufts University student, KIVUNIM graduate
Moderated by María Luisa Chávez, Chief, NGO Relations, Department of Public Information (DPI)
Thursday 10 February 2011
- Holocaust Memorial Ceremony “Women and the Holocaust: Courage and Compassion”
Venue: General Assembly Hall (UN HQ)
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Contact: Holocaustremembrance@un.org
(Archived Video)
This year the United Nations will honour the courage of women during the Holocaust, which continues to inspire and empower women today. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivered opening remarks. Statements were also made by H.E. Mr. Joseph Deiss, President of the 65th Session of the General Assembly, H.E. Mr. Ehud Barak, Minister of Defence of the State of Israel, and H.E. Ambassador Rosemary A. DiCarlo, U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The keynote speech was delivered by Professor Lenore Weitzman, Professor Emeritus, George Mason University and Mrs. Nesse Godin, Holocaust Survivor (Lithuania) has shared her testimony (it was delivered by Mrs. Vivian Bernstein, a child of Holocaust survivors). Cantor Yaakov Lemmer, Chief Cantor, Congregation Anshe Shalom, New Rochelle, NY, recited memorial prayers. Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information hosted the event. He has also launched the Holocaust Programme's new study guide and DVD for high school students. With the participation of students from the UN International School.
Roundtable Discussion: “A World Without Nazism - a Global Goal for Humanity Today and the 65th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials”
Contact: usun.press@gmail.com
Venue: UNHQ, Conference Building, Conference Room 8
Organized by the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, The Department of Public Information, the International Human Rights Movement “World Without Nazism”, and the American Forum of Russian Jewry.