January
27
International
Holocause Remembrance Day
International
Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, is
the first universal memorial day for the victims
of the Holocaust. It was designated by the
United Nations General Assembly Resolution
60/7 on 1 November 2005 during the 42nd plenary
session. On 24 January 2005, during a special
session, the United Nations General Assembly
marked the 60th anniversary of the liberation
of the Nazi concentration camps and the end
of the Holocaust which resulted in the annihilation
of 6 million European Jews and millions of
others by the Nazi regime.
January
27 is the date, in 1945, when the largest
Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau (Poland),
was liberated by Soviet troops.
Prior
to the 60/7 resolution, there had been national
days of commemoration, such as Germany's Tag
des Gedenkens an die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus
(The Day of remembrance for the victims of
National Socialism), established in a proclamation
issued by Federal President Roman Herzog on
3 January 1996; and the Holocaust memorial
day observed every 27 January since 2001 in
the UK
Events
January 27
447 – The Walls of Constantinople
are severely damaged by an earthquake, destroying
large parts of the wall, including 57 towers.
1785 – The University of Georgia is founded,
the first public university in the United
States.
1967 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White
and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during
a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
1967 – The United States, United Kingdom,
and Soviet Union sign the Outer Space Treaty
in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of
nuclear weapons in space, and limiting use
of the Moon and other celestial bodies to
peaceful purposes.
1996 – Germany first observes International
Holocaust Remembrance Day.
2002 – An explosion at a military storage
facility in Lagos, Nigeria, kills at least
1,100 people and displaces over 20,000 others.
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