On the day that is now honored as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, the liberation of Auschwitz is “celebrated.” However, it was not the end of the Holocaust.

Join us for a special virtual learning program for International Holocaust Remembrance Day on the anniversary of 80 years since the death marches.

SUNDAY JANUARY 19

9PM ISRAEL | 7PM UK | 2PM EST | 1PM CST | 11AM PST

The Nazi effort to eliminate the Jews was so focused and strategic that they contrived a means to further murder the remaining witnesses with minimal cost. Between January 17-21, 1945, before the arrival of the Soviet armies, 56,000 Jews were led out of Auschwitz and over 700,000 prisoners from the range of concentration and labor camps on death marches. Forced to endure hundreds of kilometers in the worst of winter conditions after surviving the extermination centers, nearly 250,000 perished or were murdered or died on the journey. Those who survived were interned in the camps in Germany proper - the last to be freed by the Allies.

We must remember the fateful last days in the camps to which they were marched, where death continued to dominate all life. And we must ensure that the commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz does not diminish the significance of the continued memory of the last painful months of persecution and momentary survival of the Jews and other prisoners of the camps not liberated until May 1945.

We must know, understand, and speak openly about the experiences of these marches, and how they embody the continued spirit of survival that drove Jews young and old further towards the end - either of the war, or of their lives.

RSVP to the VCI community gathering for International Holocaust Remembrance Day,
Liberation Unfulfilled.

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