A yearly gathering of the UN General Assembly commemorates victims of the Holocaust and reminds us that we must work harder to keep hatred at bay.
Attendants to the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust look up the names of relatives at the Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims, an exhibition from Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem museum on loan at the United Nations headquarters, New York, United States, 27 January 2023. (All photos by Enrique Shore.)
On January 27 in 1945, Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, a horrific Nazi concentration camp where 1.1 million Jewish men, women and children were murdered by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. In 2005, the United Nations marked the date with an annual remembrance — the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
Photojournalist Enrique Shore, a News Decoder correspondent, attended the ceremony. To Shore, the Day of Commemoration is equal in relevance and meaning to only the UN General Assembly meetings in September when heads of state come together from all over the world.
“The UN is a unique forum where all the countries in world can come together — even with strong disagreement and with all its imperfections and limitations there is no other better alternative,” Shore wrote. “To watch the UN Secretary-General António Guterres stress that ‘We must never forget, nor allow others to ever forget, distort or deny the Holocaust’ is important and core to the UN mission.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust at the UN General Assembly Hall, New York, USA, 27 January 2023.
The most moving moment in the ceremony, Shore wrote, was when attendants stood up in silence as Cantor Nissim Saal sung “El Maleh Rachamim,” a Jewish prayer for the soul of the departed. In the Jewish religion, a cantor is someone who traditionally leads a congregation in prayer.
Attendants stand up in silence as Cantor Nissim Saal sings “El Maleh Rachamim,” a Jewish prayer for the soul of the departed, during the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust at the UN General Assembly Hall, New York, United States, 27 January 2023.
The ceremony also included an address from Holocaust survivor Jacques Grishaver. As a baby, Grishaver was hidden by a non-Jewish woman in the Netherlands during German occupation. Grishaver is chairman of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee.
Holocaust survivor Jacques Grishaver addresses the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust at the UN General Assembly Hall, New York, United States, 27 January 2023.
Shore wrote that it was impressive to watch people after the ceremony look up names of relatives in a massive “Book of Names” installation that was set up in the lobby near the entrance.
The Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims, is an exhibition from Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center on loan at the UN headquarters, that identifies and details 4.8 million confirmed victims of the Holocaust.
Attendants to the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust look up the names of relatives at the Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims, New York, United States, 27 January 2023.
Three questions to consider:
- Why is it important to commemorate tragic historical events?
- What is the purpose of The Book of Names?
- Why do you think some people try to deny that the Holocaust happened?
Enrique Shore is a News Decoder correspondent, photographer and pictures editor with three decades experience covering World Cups, Olympics, presidential elections, summits and the first Gulf War. He was Reuters chief photographer for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, then based in Madrid in charge of the Iberian Peninsula. He later looked after media clients in Spain and Portugal. He is currently an independent photographer, editor and consultant based in New York.