© Shoah Memorial

In following up Resolution 60/7 on Holocaust Remembrance adopted by the United Nations General Conference in 2005, UNESCO commemorates every year the victims of the Holocaust in a major ceremony gathering delegates, state representatives and NGOs.

This International Day of Commemoration is an occasion for UNESCO to remind its strong commitment to support and encourage education for Holocaust remembrance in member-countries. The theme of the ceremony, organized in partnership with the Shoah Memorial, will be “Children in the Holocaust”. About nine Jewish children of Europe out of ten were assassinated in the Holocaust, that is almost one and a half million of them. This event is a tribute to their memory. Different personalities will participate, including the Director General of UNESCO, Ms. Irina Bokova, Prof. Yehuda Bauer, historian, Mr. Henri Borlant, physician, survivor of Auschwitz-Birkenau and also M. Jean Leonetti, French Minister of European Affairs . A short film entitled “Hidden Children” by renown film maker Robert Bober will be shown. The film brings to light moving letters of hidden children read by French actress Anouk Grinberg. An exhibition of the Shoah Memorial entitled "The Righteous of France" will also be presented on this occasion.