In 2005, the United Nations designated January 27 as the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
This day commemorates the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp that took place in 1945 and honours the memory of the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust (the Shoah).
6 million people of Jewish identity and millions of others were killed in the Holocaust, including those targeted based on their ability, ethnicity, religious and political beliefs, and/or sexual orientation (for example, people with disabilities, 2SLGTBQIA+ people, Roma, Black people, Slavic people and Jehova’s witnesses).
This day presents an opportunity to remember and educate current and future generation about the past, to honour the victims of the Holocaust, and, amid a rise in antisemitism and waning knowledge of this history, actively challenge hatred and discrimination in all its forms.
Featured events
January 20–24, 2025
Holocaust Education Week 2025 hosted by Hillel BC
Registration required for all events. Details available on Instagram (@hillel.bc)
- January 20–24: Shoah: How Was It Humanly Possible? (Yad Vashem Exhibit)
- January 20: Lunch and Learn: The Holocaust in the Middle East
- January 20: Coffee Conversations: Corrie ten Boom & the Righteous Among the Nations
- January 21: Imprint: Author Claire Sicherman on Healing Intergenerational Trauma
- January 22: Reading of the Names Led by AEPi
- January 23: Fireside Chat with Holocaust Survivor & UBC Psych Professor Emeritus, Dr. Peter Suedfeld on Trauma & Resilience
- January 24: Shabbat Dinner with Honoured Guests: Holocaust Survivors
January 27, 2025
Lighting the Ladner clock tower
The Ladner clock tower at UBC Vancouver will light up yellow to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Access resources
- Introduction to Anti-Jewish Discrimination (PDF)
- Introduction to UBC’s Human Rights Obligations & Discrimination Policy (PDF)
- Jewish Chaplain at UBC Vancouver
- Canadian Holocaust Resources
- Facts about the Holocaust, UNESCO
- Education about the Holocaust and genocide, UNESCO
Find community
- Hillel BC
- Jewish Faculty Network (National)
- UBC Chapter: jfnetwor@gmail.com
- Independent Jewish Voices (National)
- UBC Chapter: Instagram | ubc@ijvcanada.org
Are you in a UBC department or student group planning an International Holocaust Remembrance Day event?
Please connect with us to have your event considered for this page info.events@ubc.ca.