Today, April 18, 2023, is Yom Hashoah, the day Israel observes as a memorial for the six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies in the Holocaust and is one of the most solemn dates on the country’s calendar.
Official observances began after sundown on Monday (April 17th) with a ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem to remember those who died in Auschwitz-Birkenau – the death camp in southern Poland.
The Germans established Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1940, during World War II, for Polish prisoners and then expanded it to include death chambers and crematoria where Jews from across Europe were brought by train. The camp became a place of systematic murder of Jews, Poles, Soviet POWs, Roma and others targeted by Adolf Hitler. (Wikipedia)
Today the site, with its barracks, barbed wire and ruins of gas chambers, stands as one of the world’s most recognized symbols of evil and a site of pilgrimage for millions.
Photos submitted by G. William Streeter
For larger view, Click on Photo
In all, some 1.1 million people were killed at the vast complex before the remaining 7,000 prisoners were liberated by Soviet troops on January 27, 1945.
Unfortunately, the world continues to be impacted by those who inconceivably continue down the road of hate. According to Statistics Canada in 2021, the number of hate crimes targeting the Jewish community went up 47 per cent.
For what reason?
