United Nations -- The General Assembly has
designated January 27 as an annual International Day of
Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
The resolution, which is the first in the
United Nations' 60-year history relating to the Holocaust,
was adopted by consensus November 1. Initial drafters of
the resolution -- Australia, Canada, Israel, Russia and
the United States -- were joined by 100 nations in sponsoring
the resolution in the assembly.
The resolution urges all nations to develop
ways to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive so that future
generations will help prevent similar acts of genocide.
January 27 currently is recognized officially
as a day of remembrance for Holocaust victims in several
countries because it marks the day in 1945 when the Soviet
army liberated the largest Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau,
Poland. In January 2005, the U.N. General Assembly held
a special session to commemorate the 60th anniversary of
the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.
Introducing the resolution, Israeli Ambassador
Dan Gillerman, himself the descendant of Holocaust victims,
said that "while the Holocaust was a unique tragedy
for the Jewish people, its lessons are universal."
"It brought us face to face with the
full extent of man's capacity for inhumanity to his fellow
man. It revealed the potential to pervert technology, philosophy,
culture, and ideology to commit acts on an unimaginable
scale and with an unthinkable degree of cruelty," Gillerman
said.
"As the generation of Holocaust survivors
and liberators dwindles, the torch of remembrance, of bearing
witness, and of education must continue forward," the
Israeli ambassador said.
The Holocaust has been a critical impetus
for the development of human rights, the drafting of landmark
international conventions such as the U.N. Genocide Convention,
and for the establishment of the United Nations, which was
founded to save succeeding generations from the scourge
of war and protect the dignity and worth of the human person.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the resolution
"is the most fitting tribute we can pay in memory of
the victims of the Holocaust and reflects the core values
and principles upon which the United Nations was founded."
The lessons of the Holocaust "are no
less relevant today," Bolton said.
In an apparent reference to recent comments
made by government leaders in Iran, Bolton said that "when
a president or a member state can brazenly and hatefully
call for a second Holocaust by suggesting that Israel, the
Jewish homeland, should be wiped off the map, it is clear
that not all have learned the lessons of the Holocaust and
that much work remains to be done.
"And when some member states shamefully
hesitate to decisively condemn such remarks, it is clear
that much work remains to be done," the U.S. ambassador
said. "That is why the resolution before us today is
so important."
The text of the resolution "rejects
any denial of the Holocaust as an historical event either
in full or part" and "condemns without reserve
all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement,
harassment or violence against persons or communities based
on ethnic origin or religious belief wherever they occur."
It also asks the secretary-general to establish
an outreach program entitled "The Holocaust and the
United Nations" and other measures to mobilize civil
society for Holocaust remembrance and education.
In a statement issued by his spokesman,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the assembly's decision
saying that the annual commemoration will be "an important
reminder of the universal lessons of the Holocaust, a unique
evil which cannot simply be consigned to the past and forgotten."
Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
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