Overview
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned distortion of Holocaust history and said the EU is implementing its antisemitism strategy, including efforts to prevent radicalization, protect vulnerable groups online, and strengthen security at public and religious sites.
- Ukraine’s Institute of National Memory reported that key Holocaust memorials, including Babyn Yar in Kyiv and the Drobytskyi Yar memorial in Kharkiv, were struck during Russian attacks in 2022.
- The institute highlighted the wartime deaths of Holocaust survivors, noting that Wanda Obiedkova died in Mariupol on April 4, 2022, and Boris Romanchenko was killed in Kharkiv on March 18, 2022.
- Marking the date set by UN General Assembly Resolution 60/7, the day recalls the January 27, 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau by the 1st Ukrainian Front and the six million Jewish victims, including about 1.5 million from present-day Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s presidential office chief Kyrylo Budanov said passive remembrance has failed to prevent new genocides and called for decisive action with unavoidable punishment for war crimes, while Kyiv hosts a Matvii Vaisberg exhibition for the commemoration.