International Holocaust Remembrance Day in POLIN Museum

Mateusz Szczepaniak, 16 November 2016
In accordance with a 2005 decision of the United Nations, 27th January 2016 has been designated as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. It remembers the millions of Jews exterminated during the Second World War. The date coincides with the date upon which the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp was liberated.

The Warsaw commemoration of the day will begin at 4:00 pm at the Ghetto Heroes Monument, near the POLIN Museum. During the event, wreaths will be laid, ecumenical prayers will be recited and a memorial Roll Call will be read during which everyone can take part in the reading of Holocaust victims' names, including the names of their relatives.

During the day, a memorial tram, bearing the Star of David, will travel throughout the area which was once occupied by the Warsaw Ghetto.

The organiser of the event, the Shalom Foundation, has appealed for a candle to be lit, at 6:00 pm, in the window of every home to form a Light of Remembrance.

It is difficult to describe in words the absolute atrocity that was the Holocaust. The words of those who managed to survive the Holocaust are the most important. To mark the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, our Museum of the History of Polish Jews POLIN website will present a selection of survivor stories from the our collection.