On 1 November 2005, Kofi Annan, the secretary-general of the United Nations at that time, declared the day on which Auschwitz was liberated a day of commemoration: The Holocaust Memorial Day. Victims of the Holocaust and other genocides, such as those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Srebrenica, and Darfur, are remembered worldwide. Auschwitz has developed into a universal symbol of mass destruction of innocent civilians. Read more about the Holocaust Memorial Day.
On January 27, 2013 it was exactly 68 years ago that the extermination camp Auschwitz was liberated. The annual commemoration, always held on the last Sunday in January, took place on the 68th anniversary of the liberation date. The commemoration took place in the Wertheimpark in Amsterdam, where a couple of thousand people gathered in the pouring rain to listen to speeches held by the Mayor of Amsterdam mr. Eberhard van der Laan, the Chairman of the Dutch Auschwitz Committee mr. Jacques Grishaver and Menno Lavino, who represented the young generation. Music was played by Sinti&Roma musicians and Jiskor and Kaddish prayers were said by Rabbi Menno ten Brink.
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