HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022 January 27 Holocaust Day of RemembranceCOLUMBIA HEIGHTS
PROCLAMATION
International Holocaust Day of Remembrance: January 27, 2022
WHEREAS, January 27 is International Holocaust Day of Remembrance as designated by the
United Nations, which recognizes the six million lives that were murdered during WWII, also
known as the Shoah; and
WHEREAS, survivors of the Shoah came to Minnesota, established new lives in safety and
dignity, and contributed greatly to our state; and
WHEREAS, only the combined might of the Allied armed forces destroyed Nazi Germany and
ended the Shoah which murdered two-thirds of Europe's Jews along with the Roma, Jehovah's
Witnesses, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and others; and
WHEREAS, 326,000 Minnesotans served in the United States Armed Forces in World War II
with many Minnesotans participating in the liberation of concentration camps in Germany, and
in 2020, the Minnesota National Guard established its own Special Emphasis Council for
Holocaust Remembrance; and
WHEREAS, seventy-six years after the end of World War II, the need for redoubling education
efforts is vividly and horrifically illustrated by the presence of modern-day groups inspired by
and taking lessons from the Nazi party, reflected visibly in the "Camp Auschwitz" message
displayed among the rioters at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021; and
WHEREAS, Anti -Semitic hate crimes continue into this year where this past weekend, January
15, 2022, an armed gunman took multiple hostages at Congregation Beth Israel, a Jewish
synagogue in Colleyville, Texas; and
WHEREAS, across the Nation and here in Minnesota, as white nationalist groups inspired by
and taking lessons from the Nazi party to organize, recruit, and bring chaos and terror to the
lives of marginalized communities, we must look to history to inform our resistance; and
WHEREAS, the State of Minnesota and its schools are dedicated to teaching the history of the
Shoah and communicating its facts and lessons to prevent such heinous crimes in the future and
to inform our resistance to the white nationalist groups still organizing, recruiting, and
radicalizing young people.
NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Amada Marquez Simula, Mayor of Columbia
Heights, do hereby proclaim Thursday, January 27, 2022 as Holocaust Remembrance Day in the
City of Columbia Heights, County of Anoka, State of Minnesota, U.S.A.
Am da Marquez Simula, Mayor
January 24, 2022