Holocaust Remembrance Day 2026 "The genocide did not begin with concentration camps and gas chambers; it started with apathy and silence in the face of injustice, and with the corrosive dehumanization of the other. Today, and always, we need to remember this." Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]  

https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/01/high-commissioner-turk-international-holocaust-remembrance-day-we 

International Holocaust Remembrance Day invites us not only to look at our past, but to reflect on our present, and to safeguard our future.

To some, 1945 may seem like distant history. It is difficult to fathom that within living memory, a group of deluded killers inflicted unspeakable atrocities on millions of Jews and members of other minorities. The Nazi regime persecuted them, stripped them of dignity, and ultimately murdered them with the horrific efficiency of an assembly line. Systematically, openly, and without consequences.

The history of the Holocaust offers striking lessons.

This appalling cruelty was not born in medieval darkness, but in the broad daylight of a supposedly modern society. The genocide did not begin with concentration camps and gas chambers; it started with apathy and silence in the face of injustice, and with the corrosive dehumanization of the other.

Today, and always, we need to remember this.

In a disturbing trend, threats and assaults against Jews have risen sharply in recent years. The heinous attacks in Sydney and Manchester made headlines around the world. But countless daily abuses that don’t make the news leave lasting scars on people and communities.

Hatred and dehumanization are creeping into our daily lives, including through our social media feeds.

But here is reason for hope: Today, we are far better equipped to resist these patterns.

We are equipped with the memory of how exclusion can turn into annihilation, if we look away.

We are equipped with education and unprecedented access to information to seek truth and to understand our differences.

And we are equipped with human rights, backed by international law – forged from the ashes of war to protect humanity from repeating its darkest chapters.

We need to use these tools at all times against the plague of racism, antisemitism, and dehumanization.

We need laws that prohibit discrimination in all its forms. We need politicians who do not polarize by calling out difference, but unite by calling out injustice.

We need education about the Holocaust and human rights for all ages. And we need robust, inclusive systems to moderate digital content, so that people can express their concerns without fear.

Above all, we must stand up for our shared humanity – each and every day.

The history of the Holocaust abounds with stories of rescue and selflessness that illuminate the immense power of reason and compassion.

Year after year, the last survivors are leaving us – most recently Eva Schloss, a tireless advocate of tolerance and Holocaust education. But their stories live on. They guide and inspire us.

Together, we must challenge exceptionalism, supremacy, and bigotry wherever we encounter them: at the dinner table; at our workplaces; on social media. Each of us can be an architect of a world free from discrimination and intolerance.

As Eva’s stepsister Anne Frank taught us, nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. 

Promoting and protecting human rights for all