International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

On Sunday, January 27, we celebrated International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. The main part of the celebration started at 5 pm at the Menorah monument. “It warms the heart to see that there are so many of us here today. The whole world should stop for a moment and remember those who were exterminated due to hatred and contempt”, said Bogdan Białek, president of the Jan Karski Society.

Psalms were recited and fragments of memories from the Kielce ghetto were read out at the Menorah monument. A group of young people from Israel and Poland, who participated in a student exchange program,  took part in the celebration. One young Israeli recited a Jewish prayer for the dead and the whole group sang “Eli, Eli” and “Imagine” by John Lennon.

After the ceremony the participants were invited to the Institute where the young people presented their projects about the Righteous Among the Nations. Finally, we showed two films – “Holokaust oczami dziecka” [The Holocaust through the eyes of the child] and “Historia Ireny Sendlerowej” [Irena Sendler Story].