Holocaust, the mass murder of 6 million Jews in Europe by the Nazi Regime of Adolf Hitler and its collaborators, is one of the largest genocide in the World’s history. Also known as Shoah, it was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored hounding and murder of the Jews by the Nazis, who came into power in Germany in January 1933. They thought that they were racially superior to others and to prove their superiority they tortured 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews to death. During the year 1933, there were more than 9 million Jews spread across the European Continent and by the end of the year 1945 two third of the population were killed as a part of the “Final Solution”.
The Nazis and their collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps for Jews during the time of World War II to monitor the Jewish population and to make deportation possible. The creation of Ghettos was the key step of the Nazis in the process of separating, persecuting, and ultimately destroying the Jews of Europe. During this time many were shot, some died of starvation, some of disease and some owing to maltreatment. Some were as well deported to killing centers where they were put inside gas chambers and were killed. This is one of the darkest incidents in the history and left an imprint in the minds of those who managed to survive the Holocaust.
To commemorate the victims of Holocaust, the United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/7 on 1 November 2005 during the 42nd plenary session designated 27th January as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On 27th January, 1945, the largest Nazi concentration and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, was liberated by the Allied Forces i.e. the Soviet Troops. The Jews in Europe, who survived this dreadful incident, fled to different parts of the World in search of shelter and better life. Today, Holocaust Remembrance Day is celebrated in almost every part of the World to commemorate the victims. The reasons why this incident should always be remembered are:
- It is one of the most traumatizing and frightening events
- It happened in reality and happened only in the recent times
- It could happen again
Many Jewish Organizations have started different initiative to let the young generation know about what had happened to their ancestors.
Holocaust Remembrance Projects are as well initiated by the Holocaust survivors to keep the memory and lessons of the Holocaust alive in the minds of the people so that history will never repeat itself. The survivors of this incident are invited to give their testimonials in front of the young generation and let them know about the horror that was designed by a single man during the 20th Century.