Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Today Is International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, set by the United Nations on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Jerusalem Post reports:
In Washington, US President Barack Obama will attend a ceremony at the Israeli Embassy posthumously honoring four Righteous Among the Nations – non- Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust and are recognized by Israel's Yad Vashem....
Among those being honored is US Army master-sergeant Roddie Edmonds (died 1985), from Knoxville, Tennessee, who, when imprisoned in a German POW camp, refused to identify Jewish soldiers under his command, telling the camp commandant: “We are all Jews.”...
Chancellor Angela Merkel, in her podcast on Saturday, said anti-Semitism in Germany is “more widespread than we imagine,” citing schools, social media and legal measures.
She called on refugees to reject anti-Semitism.
On Monday, Merkel opened the biggest exhibition of Holocaust art outside Israel in Berlin.
UPDATE: Here is the full text of President Obama's remarks at the Righteous Among Nations Award Ceremony.