Events aim to combat Holocaust denial

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed annually on Jan. 27, falls on Thursday. The day, designated by the U.N. General Assembly in 2005, commemorates the victims of the Holocaust and preserves the history of the genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1945.

This year is the 80th anniversary of the Wannsee Conference, which resulted in the establishment of Nazi death camps and the murder of nearly 6 million Jews, comprising one-third of the Jewish people.

Last week, the General Assembly approved an Israeli-sponsored resolution condemning any denial of the Holocaust and urging all nations and social media companies “to take active measures to combat antisemitism and Holocaust denial or distortion.”

The assembly approved the resolution by consensus – without a vote – and with a bang of a gavel by Assembly President Abdulla Shahid. Israel’s enemy, Iran, “disassociated” itself from the resolution.

AP, file In 1945, snow covers the rail tracks leading to the AuschwitzBirkenau death camp in Poland. A UN resolution condemns Holocaust denial.