United Nations’ Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Charles Abani and German Ambassador to Ghana, Daniel Krull, on Tuesday, January 28, joined the Israeli Embassy in Ghana to commemorate the 2025 edition of the International Holocaust at the residence of the UN Resident Coordinator in Accra.

Under the theme, "Holocaust Remembrance and Education for dignity and human rights," the solemn event brought together some members of the diplomatic community in Ghana, National Peace Council, Founder of Salt and Light Ministry Dr Joyce Aryee, senior pastors from various charismatic churches and some queen mothers.

On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp in Europe.

On that fateful day, six million Jews representing 1/3 of the Jewish population at the time were murdered during the Holocaust. Among them, more than one million were murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

60 years later, and 20 years ago, on the 1st of November 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 60/7 that laid the ground for the International Holocaust Day.

The resolution reaffirmed “that the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one-third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice”.

January 27, every year has been set aside by UNESCO to pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirm its unwavering commitment to counter antisemitism, racism, and other forms of intolerance that may lead to group-targeted violence.

The date marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp by Soviet troops on 27 January 1945. It was officially proclaimed, in November 2005, International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust by the United Nations General Assembly.

Speaking during the programme, the UN Resident Coordinator in Ghana Mr Charles Abani said the holocaust is a dark chapter in human history that "we should never forget, because it was a human tragedy that affects us all and it continues to remain an existential threat."

He stressed that eighty years ago, apathy, dehumanisation and hatred won as cries for help of six million Jews and millions of others went unanswered and subsequently murdered during the holocaust.

Mr Abani stated that it is a clarion call for collective action to ensure respect for dignity, human rights and international laws, adding that digitalisation and social media, disinformation and misinformation have become a canker that threatens to distort the facts of the Holocaust.

Touching on Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, he said at long last the ceasefire and hostage release deal is ongoing. According to him, the deal offers hope as well as much-needed relief, giving an assurance that the United Nations will do its utmost best to ensure the deal leads to the release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

In his address, the Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone Mr Roey Gilad, said Jews, do not need a specific day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust as they remember them nearly every day.

He said Israel faced a terrible massacre on the 7^th of October, 2023, in which 1,200 people were brutally murdered while 250 Israelis were abducted to Gaza by Hamas terrorists and that nightmare reminds many Israelis of the Holocaust.

He however says Israel will be a very strong state that will overcome all the numerous challenges facing its citizens as a nation.

On his part, German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Daniel Krull said despite the role of Germany in the mass murder of Jews in Europe and beyond, his country maintains a special relationship with the State of Israel with an unwavering support for its people.  

Reaffirming his country’s bilateral support, Mr Krull said Israel's right to exist is irrefutable adding that Germany will advocate strongly for full respect of human rights for all and the respect of the principle of international law.