Azernews.Az

In observance of the January 27 - International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, UNDPI Azerbaijan brought together about 50 Azerbaijani students and educators at the Secondary School named after Academician Zarifa Aliyeva in Baku.
The event, conducted on the eve of the Day, started with introductory information on the Holocaust and its impact on humanity, followed by the Secretary-General’s video message for the Day.
Since the 2010 observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust focuses on a central theme: "The Legacy of Survival", during the main part of the event the audience consisting of eminent Azerbaijani teachers and professors as well as enthusiastic Azeri youth watched the film: "One Survivor Remembers" - 40 minute Academy Award-winning documentary film by Kary Antholis which emphasizes the universal lessons that the survivors will pass on to succeeding generations.
With fewer survivors alive to tell their stories, the empowering story of Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissman Klein which was depicted in the film, was well received by the audience. In a short exchange after the screening several students emphasized how this lesson is important as an encouragement for youngsters to respect diversity and human rights.
The administration of the school hailed the event as: "Important initiative by the UN DPI to make ware the younger generations of the hatred and intolerance, which led to massacres and genocides during the World War II and to encourage everybody here to stand up to ensure that never again such tragedy occurs".
In 2005 the General Assembly designated January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, a day forever to be marked annually as the International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust, and urged Member States to develop educational programmes to instill the memory of the tragedy in future generations. *