Local Community Commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day

On January 27th, 1945, the Russian Red Army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest concentration and death camp. Of the 1.3 million individuals sent to Auschwitz, 1.1 million died.

In 2005 the United Nations designated January 27th as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, urging world countries to honor the 6 million Jewish victims and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educational programs to help prevent future genocides.

The day is meant to honor the survivors and the 6 million Jews killed in Nazi Germany, or over a third of the world’s Jewish population in 1939, which totaled 16.6 million, and to reaffirm people’s commitment to never forget.

On Friday, January 27th, 2023, The Mensch International Foundation held a community-wide commemoration at Palm Desert’s Civic Park, marking the 78th anniversary of the liberation of AuschwitzBirkenau. Students from Sacred Heart and Palm Desert Charter Middle School were in attendance.

On Sunday, January 29th, 2023, the local community gathered together during a ceremony The Jewish Federation of the Desert held to remember the victims and pay tribute to the survivors and heroes of this dark chapter in human history.

Source: Pamela Price