28 January 2008

Salle des Assemblées, Palais des Nations

United Nations: International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

The main objective of the observance is to pay tribute to those who perished in Nazi death camps and to reassert our commitment to uphold the values of human rights.

The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, opened the ceremony, which begun with a video message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Director-General then delivered his remarks. The Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva, His Excellency Mr. Itzhak Levanon, and Prof. Shevach Weiss, a former Ambassador of Israel to Poland and a holocaust survivor, gave their remarks. Father Patrick Desbois, a historian of the Holocaust, gave the keynote address.

English and French interpretation were provided for the observance.

At the end of the ceremony, participants were invited to view an exhibition entitled “Open Eyes”, mounted as part of the Day’s observance in the Salle des Pas Perdus of the Palais des Nations. Organized with the support of the International Auschwitz Committee, the exhibition consists of photographs of Auschwitz, accompanied by texts written by young people from Poland and Germany, many of them apprentices at the Volkswagen Coaching Company. These young people have participated in a programme organized by the Committee to assist with the preservation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum. The photographs and the texts convey their impressions of their stay at Auschwitz. This exhibition will be visible until 31 January 2008.

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