"The memory of Shoah must not disappear along with the last witnesses"

On Friday, January 26, Warsaw commenced a two-day commemoration of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day was adopted by the UN General Assembly on November 1, 2005. The date of the celebration was set for January 27 - the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in 1945. 

The commemoration day is intended not only to honor the memory of those murdered during World War II by Nazi Germany, but also to show clear opposition to the non-recognition of the Holocaust as a historical event. 

In its resolution, the UN General Assembly also called for measures to mobilize nations to maintain memory and education about the Holocaust, so that this time will serve as a warning to all people against hatred, racism and prejudice.

Friday's celebrations began with deputy speaker of the Sejm (lower house of the Polish parliament) Włodzimierz Czarzasty reading out a letter written by chief speaker of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia.

"The memory of Shoah must not disappear along with the last witnesses. The Holocaust serves as a warning against what banalization of evil and consent to hate can lead to," Hołownia wrote.

Another deputy parliament speaker, Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, also addressed those gathered. "The Nazis proceeded with the extermination of Jews only because so few stood up against it. Because so many stood and watched," she said.

"Let's remember the 11th commandment: 'Never be indifferent.'"

Isreali ambassador's deputy Shani Tayar stressed that the Remembrance Day was established because the memory of Shoah should be a collective one, rather than individual.

She also stressed that the massacre of Oct. 7 and the war that followed demostrated that the message "No More War" did not lose its validity.

Tomasz Bratek, a deputy mayor of Warsaw, read out a letter from Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.

"Tomorrow, a historic tram from the 1940s will ride the streets of Warsaw. Instead of a number, it will bear the Star of David, just like the tram that operated in the Warsaw Ghetto between 1941 and 1942. It will serve as a reminder of that dreadful time when the Nazis decided to exterminate a portion of our city's residents simply because they were Jewish," the mayor wrote.

"That is why this tram tomorrow will be empty. Just like our hearts are empty when we realize the huge scale of this tragedy."

Mayor Trzaskowski also reminded the International Holocaust Remembrance Day was set on January 27 to mark the anniversary of the Auschwitz concentration camp's liberation by the Red Army. "And today that same Russian army is committing crimes in Ukrainian villages and cities," he added.

In the final part of the commemorative event, Adrianna Dorociak, a Jewish Theatre (The Ester Rachel and Ida Kaminska Jewish Theater in Warsaw - edit.) actress, sang the song titledWarszawo ma (O, My Warsaw). Next, after an ecumenical prayer, the guests laid wreaths at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes.