It is a fact that two thirds of all Europe's Jews, including one-and-one-half million children, were murdered during a campaign of genocide called the Holocaust. The Roma, or gypsies, Poles and other Slavs, Soviet war prisoners, and mentally or physically handicapped people were also exterminated in horrific concentration camps set up by Nazi extremists led by Adolph Hitler.

We must never allow these atrocities to occur again, which is why every January 27 is dedicated to preserving the memory of this dark time in human history.

On November 1, 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 60/7 to designate January 27 — the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau — as International Holocaust Remembrance Day1.

The same resolution supports the development of educational programs to remember the Holocaust and to prevent further genocide2.

Resolution 60/7 not only establishes January 27 as "International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust," it also rejects any form of Holocaust denial. The resolution encourages member states of the UN to actively preserve sites that the Nazis used during the Holocaust, so such evils will not be forgotten. It also condemns all forms of "religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief" throughout the world3.

On this annual day of commemoration, we are all urged to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism4.

Sign the pledge and join others who have vowed to never forget the Holocaust!

More on this issue:

1. United Nations, "Conferences | Commemoration of the Liberation of the Nazi camps."
2. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "International Holocaust Remembrance Day."
3. International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (26 January 2017), "International Holocaust Remembrance Day."
4. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "International Holocaust Remembrance Day."