2023 -- S 0050
========
LC001214
========
S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
____________
S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N
COMMEMORATING “INTERNATIONAL HOLOC AUST REMEMBRANCE DAY ” ON
JANUARY 27, 2023
Introduced By: Senator Meghan E. Kallman
Date Introduced: January 31, 2023
Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration
WHEREAS, The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, is the term used to refer to the 1
period in world history from 1933 to 1945, before and during World War II, when Adolf Hitler 2
and the Nazis systematically and barbarically persecuted and murdered nearly six million Jews 3
and another five million non-Jews throughout Europe because they were perceived to be "racially 4
inferior" and "life unworthy of life"; and 5
WHEREAS, On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz and liberated more 6
than 7,000 remaining prisoners, who were mostly ill and dying. Shortly thereafter, other Allied 7
forces liberated the remaining concentration camps, freeing thousands of additional suffering and 8
starving prisoners. By the time these liberations occurred, roughly two-thirds of Europe’s Jewish 9
population had been systematically and heinously murdered; and 10
WHEREAS, In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution 11
designating January 27th as International Holocaust Remembrance Day to mark the anniversary 12
of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and to honor the six million Jewish victims of the 13
Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism; and 14
WHEREAS, This year marks the 78th year anniversary of the end of the infamous and 15
brutal killing grounds of Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau and Belson but across our nation, anti-16
Semitic hate crimes continue and are rising with messages and incidents of racial, ethnic, and 17
social intolerance leading to senseless acts of violence that continue to terrorize and marginalize 18
the more than 18,750 members of the Jewish faith living in Rhode Island; and 19
LC001214 - Page 2 of 2
WHEREAS, Anti-Semitic malevolent attacks are an assault on the humanity of all the 1
people in our State. In the words of famed writer Elie Wiesel, "There may be times when we are 2
powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." Rhode 3
Islanders and people of all nations must take the time to remember the millions of men, women 4
and children who were slaughtered simply because of their beliefs and their heritage, or their 5
strengths or their frailties, and we must firmly avow that the atrocities of the Holocaust will never 6
be repeated; now, therefore be it 7
RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby commemorates 8
"International Holocaust Remembrance Day" on January 27, 2023. We call upon our fellow 9
citizens to join us in remembering and honoring the amazing courage and the enormous sacrifices 10
of all those killed during the Holocaust. We moreover reaffirm our pledge to work to eradicate 11
bigotry, prejudice, brutality and injustice through education and vigilance and we stand united in 12
rejecting and condemning vile and intolerable acts of anti-Semitism and hatred. In the words of 13
Harvard philosophy professor George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are 14
condemned to repeat it”; and be it further 15
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to 16
transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the United States Holocaust Museum, the 17
Rhode Island Holocaust Museum, the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, the Jewish 18
Community Center of Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Israel Collaborative. 19
========
LC001214
========