Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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January 27, 2026 Human rights
"They have no graves. But they live on in our memory." These are the words with which 97-year-old Evelyn Conrad, who fled Nazi-occupied Vienna with her mother in 1939 and moved with her parents to the United States, began her speech at UN headquarters. On Thursday, she took part in an event in New York City to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Evelyn's father, who was in Paris in 1939, was able to obtain visas for his wife and daughter. But most of the family did not survive the Holocaust. Evelyn remembers with particular warmth her grandmother Eleanor, who remained in Vienna and, as her family learned years later, died en route to the Treblinka death camp.
"I held out hope until the very end that she was alive. But in the end, I had to come to terms with the truth," Evelyn said.
Protect the dignity of every person
International Holocaust Remembrance Day, established by the United Nations, is observed on January 27—the day Soviet troops liberated the prisoners of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in 1945. World War II ended in September of that year, and the Nuremberg Trials, the international court trial of the former leaders of Nazi Germany, began in November.
"This trial marks the beginning of a new era in international criminal law. An era in which individuals, including the most powerful, are held accountable for their actions," said the UN Secretary-General. Antonio Guterres.
He noted that the fight against anti-Semitism, racism and hatred continues, and stressed the need to protect the dignity of every person and honor the memory of those killed.
"We gather here to honor with profound sorrow the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. They were mothers and fathers. Sons and daughters. Grandmothers and grandfathers, grandsons and granddaughters. Six million Jews murdered simply because they were Jews," the UN chief said.
He also recalled the persecution of people with disabilities, Roma and many others.
Memory is not fear, but knowledge
The Roma people were represented at the UN event by Halyna Tomenko. Her age and health prevented her from flying to New York from Ukraine. She recorded a video message for the meeting participants, in which she spoke about the extermination of Roma during the Nazi occupation.
In the early 1940s, Galina's family moved from the village of Tsarichanka to Dnepr to escape violence.
"Survival depended on constant displacement, silence, and fear. My family endured famine, genocide, uncertainty, and loss. Many Roma families were completely wiped out," Galina said.
"I speak today not only to remember the past, but also to pass on responsibility. My generation survived and preserved the memory. Now we pass this memory on to our children and grandchildren – not as fear, but as knowledge, dignity, and protection," she added.
UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock urged people not to remain silent after witnessing hatred and dehumanization, but to speak out—"even louder than before." The Holocaust, she reminded, didn't begin with gas chambers. It began with words, laws, arson. It began with the silence of neighbors who witnessed Jewish stores being boycotted.
"Questioning someone's rights simply because of who they are, where they come from, or the color of their skin always leads to the same result: dehumanization, which ultimately extends to everyone," Baerbock said.
A simple idea that is difficult to put into practice
Every person must do everything possible to prevent such hatred, destruction, and terror from ever happening again, said Marion Blumenthal Lazan. She, her brother, and her parents spent several years in camps in the Netherlands and Germany.
In 1996, she published a memoir, "Four Perfect Pebbles," about survival and hope in the most horrific circumstances. In the book, Marion recounts how, at the Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany, their only food was a piece of bread and watery soup once a day. After some time, even this ration was issued only once a week. The prisoners were allowed to shower only once a month, and each time they feared gas would come out of the taps instead of water.
"I spent most of my time playing games in an imaginary world. One game became especially important to me: I decided that if I found four pebbles of approximately the same size and shape, all four members of my family would survive. I played this game over and over again, always trying to find my four pebbles," she said.
Marion's father didn't survive. But she, her mother, and her brother managed to hold out and eventually emigrate to the United States.
"Let's treat each other with kindness, compassion, and respect. It's such a simple idea, but so difficult to put into practice," Marion declared from the UN General Assembly podium.
“How we treat each other, how we behave and how we interact is entirely up to us,” she added.
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