International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2010

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Holocaust Memorial Day 2010

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sourced by Sudha Krishna

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  Created by Sudha Krishna | add comment

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  Created by Jordan Yerman | add comment

January 27 is Holocaust Remembrance Day memorializing those killed by the Nazis before and during World War II. Holocaust Remembrance Day takes on more urgency each year, since fewer and fewer survivors of the Holocaust are still alive.  This year's theme is "Legacy of Survival". In Israel, Holocaust Memorial Day is Yom Hashoah, which is celebrated on the 27th of Nisan, which falls during April or May; this corresponds with the anniversary of the Warshaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943.

When most people think of the Holocaust, they think of that famous number: six million Jews. However, millions of others were also killed by the Nazis in concentration and death camps: Gypsies, homosexuals, political prisoners, criminals, nonwhites, and prisoners of war.

If you ever have an opportunity to talk to anyone who actually survived the Nazi camps, I suggest doing so while you still can: they're not getting any younger. I've been trying to get video of my own grandmother, but it can be difficult to keep her on topic, as she's 91 with lots of commuter miles. Sometimes I get to hear about the time she met Josef Megele, sometimes it's a lecture on Warsaw fashion circa 1939. It's never boring, though, I assure you.

Aside from the UN-recognized date of January 27, various nations have their own Holocaust Memorial Days. Oh, and, yes, it really happened.