Holocaust Remembrance
The U.S. Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust. DoDEA joins the world in honoring the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, as well as the millions of non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution.
This year, the Holocaust Days of Remembrance week was observed from April 4 –11, 2021. Holocaust Remembrance Day was Thursday, April 8, 2021. This day is observed each year during the week of Remembrance that runs from the Sunday before Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah) through the following Sunday.
In 1980 through Public Law 96-388, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council was established to lead the nation in commemorating the Holocaust, and to raise private funds for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Council consists of 55 members, who serve for five-year terms, and are appointed by the President. Additionally, five members each from the Senate and House of Representatives, and three ex-officio members from the Departments of Education, Interior, and State complete the Council.
To pay tribute to the military photographers who played a vital role in documenting evidence of Nazi atrocities and the Holocaust, DoD’s Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute (DEOMI) selected ‘Acknowledge, Preserve, Honor’ as the 2021 theme. The DEOMI team notes, “Many of the early still and moving pictures of newly liberated Nazi concentration camps were taken by Army photographers. They helped to inform the world about the horrors of Nazism and the plight of concentration camp prisoners. The U.S. Army and the Allied military governments of Germany eventually used these photographs to confront German prisoners of war in the United States and the German population with the evidence of Nazi crimes.”
Resources
American Jewish Historical Society
Established in 1892, the mission of the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) is to foster awareness and appreciation of American Jewish heritage and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation and dissemination of materials relating to American Jewish history.
Anti-Defamation League
ADL is a leading anti-hate organization. Founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of anti-Semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of hate with the same vigor and passion.
Jewish American Heritage Month
May is Jewish American Heritage MonthThe Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who have helped form the fabric of American history, culture and society.
