Secretly Captured Images of German Jews' Expulsion Found – by Chance – in Local Archive

HAARETZ: The photos, taken secretly by an amateur Jewish photographer who risked his life to show the expulsion of the Jews of the city of Breslau in Germany, are being revealed for the first time ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Breslau, 1941Credit: Landesverband Sachsen der Jüdischen Gemeinden
Previously unknown photographs, documenting the expulsion of Jews from Germany during the Holocaust, were recently discovered in a German archive and are being revealed for the first time ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Saturday. Twelve of the photos were taken in November 1941, and an additional photo was taken in April 1942. They show the expulsion of the Jews of the city of Breslau in Germany (today, Wroclaw in Poland).

The photos were taken secretly by an amateur Jewish photographer who risked his life to take them. The German research project #LastSeen, run by the Berlin-Brandenburg Freie Universitat Berlin and which holds hundreds of photos of expulsions from the period of the Holocaust, is now showing the photos on its website. The project is the public's help in identifying the people in the photos. » | Ofer Aderet | Friday, January 26, 2024

Breslau 1941: clandestine photos tell of the Holocaust’s upheaval and terror: Images taken secretly some 80 years ago are being published for the first time to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day »

Steve Schmidt on Why We Can Never Forget the Holocaust | The Warning

Jan 27, 2024 | Steve Schmidt reflects on the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. January 27th marks National Holocaust Remembrance Day, and Steve warns why it's vital -- more than ever -- to continue to remember.

2021 International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration

Eight decades after the Holocaust began, people worldwide paused on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz to honor the memory of Europe’s Jews, who were targeted for annihilation. During this ceremony, Holocaust survivors and leaders from the United States and Europe conveyed the urgent responsibility we all share to protect the lessons and legacy of this history and to defend the truth—now more than ever.

European Union: Video Message on the Occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance Day

Video message by Charles MICHEL, President of the European Council, on the occasion of EJA International Holocaust Remembrance Day event (European Jewish Association), on 27 January 2021, in Brussels.

Holocaust Memorial Day: Remembering the Victims of All Genocides

Holocaust Memorial Day is dedicated to the millions of people, including six million Jews, who were murdered under Nazi rule during the Second World War and this year, its scope has been widened to include all victims of genocide.

In the decades since the Holocaust, the world has seen many more acts of genocide and Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis says lessons have not been learnt from the horrors of the Holocaust, with the plight of Uighur Muslims in China being frighteningly similar to the genocide of Europe's Jews many decades ago.

Auschwitz 70th Anniversary: Survivors Warn of New Crimes

Child survivors at Auschwitz - still taken from footage by Soviet forces

BBC AMERICA: Auschwitz survivors have urged the world not to allow a repeat of the crimes of the Holocaust as they mark 70 years since the camp's liberation.

"We survivors do not want our past to be our children's future," Roman Kent, born in 1929, told a memorial gathering at the death camp's site in Poland.

Some 300 Auschwitz survivors returned for the ceremony under a giant tent.

Some 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, were killed there between 1940 and 1945, when Soviet troops liberated it. » | Tuesday, January 27, 2015

WHITEHOUSE: Statement by the President on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau » | Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Merkel: Germany Has ‘Everlasting Responsibility’ for the Holocaust

EUROPEAN JEWISH PRESS: BERLIN (EJP)---Germany has an “everlasting responsibility for the crimes of National Socialism, for the victims of World War II and, above all, for the Holocaust,” Merkel declared in a video message Saturday.

“And this must be made clear from generation to generation and it must be said with bravery and moral courage, every individual can make a contribution so that racism and anti-Semitism have no chance,” she said.

On January 30, Merkel will visit Berlin’s Topography of Terror Documentation Center, built on the foundations of the headquarters of the Secret State Police — the SS — and the Reich Security Main Office, which were destroyed during the war.

Exactly 80 years ago — on Jan. 30, 1933 — Hitler, leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, was sworn in as chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg.

In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI warned that "the memory of this immense tragedy, which above all struck so harshly the Jewish people, must represent for everyone a constant warning so that the horrors of the past are not repeated." » | EJP | Sunday, January 27, 2013

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Iranian Cartoons Mock Holocaust
THE TIMES OF ISRAEL: Tehran marks Holocaust Remembrance Day by running cartoons denying the crimes

While Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, Iran is playing Holocaust-denying cartoons on public television, Channel 2 News reported on Wednesday night. » | Sam Ser | Wednesday, April 18, 2012

HT: Robert Spencer @ Jihad Watch »

Holocaust Survivor on Memorial Day: 'I'm Sad for What We've Lost'
Ros Dayan describes her experience of the Nazis' persecution of Jews in Bulgaria and how she survived the Holocaust. Now living in Israel, she says she doesn't have enough money to buy food or clothes.

Ros is one of a growing proportion of Holocaust survivors in Israel who cannot make ends meet

Related »

Israel Remembers Holocaust Victims with Siren, Ceremonies
YNET NEWS: Two-minute siren sounds at 10 am in memory of six million Jews who perished in Holocaust; traditional memorial services held across country

A two-minute siren sounded across the country at 10 am Thursday in memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

The siren kicked off memorial services nationwide, including a wreath-laying ceremony at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Museum. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz were among the officials to lay wreaths in memory of the Nazis' victims.

Holocaust survivors lit memorial candles during a subsequent service held at the Knesset, under the title "Unto Every Person There is a Name."

During the service, Peres recounted the manner in which the Nazis dragged the Jews at the Polish village where his family resided into a wooden synagogue: "The gates were locked and they were burned alive. According to one testimony, a woman who remained called on the Jews to run. But they were all shot. No one survived."

Peres' told the attendees about the family he had lost in the Holocaust, and recalled the last words his grandfather told him: "Wherever you go, stay Jewish, no matter what misfortune befalls." » | Yair Altman, Shahar Chai | Thursday, April 19, 2012

YNET NEWS: Holocaust memory alive: Op-ed: As opposed to common perception, interest in Holocaust keeps growing worldwide » | Eitan Haber | Wednesday, April 18, 2012

THE HUFFINGTON POST: Holocaust Remembrance Day: Israel Honors 6 Million Victims Of Nazi Holocaust – JERUSALEM -- Israelis flocked to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial Thursday to read the names of loved ones who perished at the hands of the Nazis during World War II, a rite that has become a centerpiece of the country's annual commemoration for the 6 million Jews killed in the genocide. ¶ The ceremony, known as "Every Person Has a Name," tries to go beyond the huge numbers to personalize the stories of individuals, families and communities destroyed during the war. » | Aron Heller | Thursday, April 19, 2012

2012 Holocaust Remembrance Day Message of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Children
United Nations, New York, January 2012 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dedicates his 27 January 2012 Holocaust Remembrance Day message to children. On this day, the world remembers the 1.5 million Jewish children, and tens of thousands of other children who were murdered by the Nazis and their supporters. The best tribute to the memory of these children is an ongoing effort to teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust, so that no such horror is visited upon future generations. The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme is working towards this goal.

The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme »

'Holocaust Must Serve as Warning for All Time'
YNET NEWS: Speaking at European Parliament event for International Holocaust Remembrance Day EUP President says German people are responsible for 'keeping memory alive'

Iran and the current anti-Semitism in Europe were the main subjects at the official International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels which launched the remembrance day's commemoration events.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked on January 27, the day when 67 years ago, the Red army liberated the Auschwitz extermination camp.

Speaking at the event, EU Parliament President Martin Schulz said “The German people of today are not guilty (for the Holocaust), but responsible for keeping the memory alive.

"For me, this means that whoever is representing the German nation has one important duty: to take into account our responsibility for the Jews in the world...The Holocaust must always be fresh in our minds and souls, in the conscience of humanity, and should serve as an incontrovertible warning for all time." » | Aviel Magnezi | Friday, January 27, 2012

Speech of Mr. Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament

Norway Offers Long-delayed Holocaust Apology
YNET NEWS: Time to acknowledge that Norwegians took part in deportation of Jews, PM says

Norway apologized for the first time on Friday for the country's complicity in the deportation and deaths of Jews during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

"Norwegians carried out the arrests; Norwegians drove the trucks and it happened in Norway," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said. "Today I feel it is fitting to express our deepest apologies that this could happen on Norwegian soil."

"It is time for us to acknowledge that Norwegian policemen, civil servants and other Norwegians took part in the arrest and deportation of Jews," he said in a speech marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Vidkun Quisling, the country's leader during the occupation whose name has become synonymous with traitor, ordered Norway's 2,100 Jews registered in 1942. More than a third were deported to death camps, while others fled to neighboring Sweden.

"I regret to say that the ideas that led to the Holocaust are still very much alive today, 70 years later," Stoltenberg said. "All over the world we see that individuals and groups are spreading intolerance and fear." » | Reuters | Friday, January 27, 2012

Obama Vows to Give Meaning to 'Never Again'
YNET NEWS: President pledges to ensure Shoah is never repeated; 'We dedicate ourselves to giving meaning to those powerful words: Never Forget. Never Again,' he says

WASHINGTON - Message to Iran? US President Barack Obama issued a statement on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day Friday, pledging to ensure that the Shoah is never forgotten or repeated.

"Together with the State of Israel, and all our friends around the world, we dedicate ourselves to giving meaning to those powerful words: 'Never Forget. Never Again,'" Obama said.

"Michelle and I join people in the United States, in Israel, and across the globe as we remember the six million Jews and millions of others who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis," the president said. "We commit ourselves to keeping their memories alive not only in our thoughts, but through our actions."

Obama pledged to fight Holocaust deniers, noting that "as we celebrate the strength and resilience of survivors, we pledge to stand strong against all those who would commit atrocities, against the resurgence of anti-Semitism, and against hatred in all its forms." » | Yitzhak Benhorin | Friday, January 27, 2012

Turkey Showcases Film to Mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day
VOICE OF AMERICA: Turkey's observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day began with a broadcast of a French documentary on the Holocaust on state run television.

Filmmaker Claude Lanzmann's “Shoah” [WIKI] was shown late Thursday, on the eve of the observance.

Lanzmann says the broadcast marked the first time a predominantly Muslim country has shown his 1985 biographical film of the Holocaust era.

The nine-hour film was aired to help build understanding between Muslims and Jews, and to combat denials that the Holocaust occurred. » | Friday, January 27, 2012

Germany Marks Holocaust Memorial Day with an Appeal Not to Forget

DEUTSCHE WELLE: Germany marked Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday with a special session of parliament and a call for the nation's citizens never to forget the danger posed by right-wing extremism.

The president of the German parliament called on Germans to actively stand up to all forms of right-wing extremism, speaking on the 67th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

"It is these people who set an example and demonstrate courage," Bundestag President Norbert Lammert said in remarks commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Memorial Day falls on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet forces on January 27, 1945.

His comments follow a move to set up a parliamentary inquiry into a series of murders of nine foreign immigrants and a policewoman by an underground neo-Nazi gang. This week, a survey conducted in Germany also found that 20 percent of Germans had latent anti-Semitic feelings. "That is 20 percent too many," said Lammert.

The ceremony was also attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulff.
Norway on Friday also offered for the first time a long-delayed apology for the country's complicity in the deportation and deaths of Jews during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

A survivor remembers

In a moving speech in the Bundestag, the prominent Polish-born German literary critic, Marcel Reich-Ranicki, reminded parliament of the systematic torture and organized mass murder of European Jews launched by Germany under Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler.

Reich-Ranicki, who is 91 and frail, grew up in a Jewish family and later survived the Nazi purge of the Warsaw ghetto.

"They had only one goal; they had only one purpose - death," he said referring to Nazi claims at the time that they were simply resettling Jews. » | Author: Gregg Benzow (dpa, AP, AFP) | Editor: Nancy Isenson | Friday, January 27, 2012

Holocaust Remembrance Honors Gay Victims
Photograph: Advocate.com
ADVOCATE.COM: On Sunday, which marked the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day, a program of events in Gainesville, Fla. honored gay victims of Nazi persecution. 



Coordinators at B'nai Israel Jewish Center honored gay Holocaust victims as a reminder of the sinister forces that underlie all hate, including recent crimes in the community, according to The Gainesville Sun. 



"Recent homophobic events in the city and the efforts to introduce bigotry and intolerance into the mayor's race showed us that this was a poignant time for us to introduce this topic," Holocaust Memorial Program committee member Phillip
Schwartz told the Sun. Read on and comment >>> Julie Bolcer | Monday, April 12, 2010

Holocaust Memorial Day 2010: "The Legacy of Hope"

Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2010
ISRAEL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: "Take heed... lest you forget the things your eyes have seen... and tell them to your children, and their children after them"
(Deut. 4:9)

Yad Vashem - The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority
Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah in Hebrew) is a national day of commemoration in Israel, on which the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust are memorialized. It is a solemn day, beginning at sunset on the 27th of the month of Nisan and ending the following evening, according to the traditional Jewish custom of marking a day. Places of entertainment are closed and memorial ceremonies are held throughout the country.

The central ceremonies, in the evening and the following morning, are held at Yad Vashem and are broadcast on the television. Marking the start of the day - in the presence of the President of the State of Israel and the Prime Minister, dignitaries, survivors, children of survivors and their families, gather together with the general public to take part in the memorial ceremony at Yad Vashem in which six torches, representing the six million murdered Jews, are lit.

The following morning, the ceremony at Yad Vashem begins with the sounding of a siren for two minutes throughout the entire country. For the duration of the sounding, work is halted, people walking in the streets stop, cars pull off to the side of the road and everybody stands at silent attention in reverence to the victims of the Holocaust. Afterward, the focus of the ceremony at Yad Vashem is the laying of wreaths at the foot of the six torches, by dignitaries and the representatives of survivor groups and institutions. Other sites of remembrance in Israel, such as the Ghetto Fighters' Kibbutz and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, also host memorial ceremonies, as do schools, military bases, municipalities and places of work. >>> | Monday, April 12, 2010