#WeRemember
More than 200,000 people from around the world have posted photos of themselves on social media holding signs saying “We Remember” in dozens of languages before this week’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The day is marked each year on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
The social media campaign was launched by the World Jewish Congress two weeks ago. The photos have been uploaded on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, using the hashtag #WeRemember.
Many Holocaust survivors have posted their photos, and so have actors, politicians, and world leaders. Dignitaries include U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, and members of the European Union Commission.
Children in Pakistan and three generations of a family in Bolivia also participated.
“Anti-Semitism is more prevalent today than it has been at any time since World War II, and bigotry and discrimination still rear their ugly heads all around the world. This is why we all must declare, together, that we remember,” World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer said in a statement.
“The goal is to reach those who don’t know much about the Holocaust, or who might be susceptible to those who deny it entirely, and to remind the world that such horrors could happen again. Using the tools of social media we hope to engage the next generation, because, soon, it will be their responsibility to tell the story and ensure that humanity never forgets,” Singer added.
Other participants include schoolchildren in a Holocaust history class in Rwanda, Holocaust survivors in Lithuania, an imam in France, the president of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, as well as others in Ghana, Morocco, Fiji, Uruguay, Chile, Latvia, Germany Kazakhstan, Canada, the United States, and other countries. Israeli politicians also participated, including President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and lawmakers Yair Lapid and Isaac Herzog.
JTA Wire Service
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