When :
from Wednesday 22 January, 2020 15:15 to Thursday 30 January, 2020 18:00Type of event :
Special EventWhere :
UNESCO Headquarters, 125 avenue Suffren, 75007, Paris, FranceContact :
Isabel Tamoj: i.tamoj@unesco.orgOn the occasion of International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, UNESCO will organize a series of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Events will include an academic conference and a commemoration ceremony on 22 January 2020. Two exhibitions will be displayed at UNESCO Headquarters from 22-30 January 2020.
27 January 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops in 1945. In 2005, the date was officially proclaimed International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust by the United Nations General Assembly.
To mark this important anniversary, UNESCO will organize an academic conference, entitled “Auschwitz-Birkenau: 75 years after” to highlight recent academic findings and to explore unanswered questions regarding the history of the site, challenges relating to its preservation and its significance for the coming generations. The conference will take place on 22 January from 15h15-17h30 in Room IV at UNESCO Headquarters.
Commemoration ceremony
A commemoration ceremony in memory of the victims of the Holocaust will follow, from 18h30-20h00 in Room I at UNESCO Headquarters in the presence of UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay. The event will include a testimony by Polish Holocaust survivor Marian Turski and a concert of the Moscow Male Jewish Cappella choir.
Exhibitions
Two exhibitions will be displayed at UNESCO Headquarters from 22 January to 5 February and will also be on display at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Seeing Auschwitz
The primary focus of this exhibit is on archival images of Auschwitz, what they reveal about their creators’ perspectives, and how this can influence how we “imagine” and understand Auschwitz today. Through the photos, visitors will explore different ways of “Seeing Auschwitz,” revealing myriad perspectives and multi-dimensional ways of thinking about the space, its history, and meaning-making today. This exhibition was conceived by Musealia in cooperation with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
Crimes Uncovered: The First Generation of Holocaust Researchers
This exhibition will present the real-life stories of a number of Jewish historians and academics who resisted the Germans and their collaborators by documenting events and safeguarding evidence of the actions taken against the Jewish people during the Holocaust. The exhibition was developed by the Wiener Library, the House of the Wannsee Conference and the Touro College, Berlin.
In addition, UNESCO and the UN Department of Global Communications cooperate to bring the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum exhibition “Some were Neighbours” to United Nations Information Centers and UNESCO Field Offices around the world.
Partners
The International Day is organized in partnership with the Mémorial de la Shoah, the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme of the United Nations Department of Global Communications, and the World Congress of Mountain Jews.
It receives the support of the Permanent Delegation of Austria to UNESCO, the Permanent Delegation of France to UNESCO, the Permanent Delegation of Germany to UNESCO, the Permanent Delegation of Monaco to UNESCO, the Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, the Austrian Zukunftsfonds, and the World Congress of Mountain Jews.
The World Jewish Congress is a communication partner through the #WeRemember social media campaign.