The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time to remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution.
As we are witnessing an alarming rise of antisemitism around the globe, it is more important than ever for us to recognize the critical lessons of Holocaust history as we commemorate the victims and honor the survivors.
At the Museum and other commemoration sites, we remember Holocaust victims by reading their names, by lighting candles, and by learning about the Holocaust.
All of us can mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day by sharing the truth of the Holocaust and by confronting antisemitism and hate in our daily lives.
Watch a special episode of the Museum’s award-winning Stay Connected Live virtual series featuring special guest Tova Friedman, who will talk about surviving Auschwitz and the dangerous surge in antisemitism today.
Almost 3.5 million Jews lived in Poland before World War II. Now, eight decades after the Holocaust, about 20,000 people there have Jewish roots.
For ten years now, an empty streetcar has rolled silently through the streets of Warsaw on January 27. Instead of a route number, it has a large Star of David on the roof. Its route takes it through the part of the city that Poland's Nazi occupiers turned into Europe's largest Jewish ghetto in 1940.
The journey of this empty streetcar is a reminder of the Warsaw Jews murdered during the Second World War.