January 27 marks the Holocaust Memorial Day: the United Nations picked this date to commemorate all the victims of the Holocaust during World War II. Six million Jews were murdered by Germany’s Nazi regime, along with 5 million non-Jews who were killed.
The anniversary, since 2005, falls on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland by the Russian army in 1945. One million people died there. Twelve countries observe the January 27, including Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Scandinavian countries. In 2004 Israel designated this date as a mark of the struggle against anti-Semitism. As of 2004, eleven countries in Europe have chosen dates related to local histories.
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