International Day of Holocaust Remembrance

January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and marks the date the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated.
Holocaust Remembrance Day

January 27, 2024, marks 79 years since the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – where more than one million people were sent to gas chambers and to their agonizing deaths during the Holocaust – was liberated.

Why is International Holocaust Remembrance Day significant in Canada?

While Canada did not directly experience the Holocaust, it was impacted in many ways by the tragedy.

  • Canada's restrictive immigration policies at the time largely closed the door on Jews who were desperately seeking safety and refuge from persecution at the hands of the Nazis.
  • As a result of Canada's wartime policies, over 2,000 men were interned in camps across the country between 1940 and 1943. These were mostly Jewish refugees from Austria and Germany.
  • In April 1945, Canadian forces liberated 900 Dutch Jews from the Westerbork Transit Camp in the Netherlands.
  • Since the war, Canada has been profoundly shaped by approximately 40,000 Holocaust survivors who resettled across the country.

Canada is committed to preserving the memory of the Holocaust and combatting antisemitism. Today, the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa serves as a permanent reminder for Canadians to stand together against intolerance and hatred, and to renew our commitment to fight against racism, discrimination and antisemitism.

In Red Deer

Our Diversity and Inclusion Vision: The City of Red Deer is a vibrant, healthy and diverse organization that supports a welcoming and inclusive community where everyone feels safe and can fully participate in community life.

City Hall will be illuminated in yellow on Saturday, January 27, 2024, as Red Deerians join people around the world in remembering the victims of the atrocities of the Holocaust and reflecting on the dangers of antisemitism. The colour yellow evokes the memorial candles lit in remembrance of all the victims of the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah.

Learn more about International Holocaust Remembrance Day at:

Learn more about the Holocaust at https://aboutholocaust.org/en.