​On January 27, 2019 the international community will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This day, which marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945, was designated by the United Nations in 2005 as an international day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Holocaust. Since then, it has become a fixture in the political and educational calendars in scores of countries the world over.  

The commemorative theme of the 2019 United Nations Holocaust remembrance and education activities is “Holocaust Remembrance: Demand and Defend Your Human Rights​”. This theme encourages youth to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust, act against discrimination and defend democratic values in their communities, at a time when the spread of Neo-Nazism and hate groups fuels the rising antisemitism and other forms of hatred around the world. The theme highlights the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.