Special UN Session - 60th Anniversary of the
Liberation of the Death Camps

January 27, 2005

On Monday, January 24, the United Nations General Assembly held a Special Session commemorating 60 years since the liberation of the death camps in Europe.  The session opened a week of events to mark the anniversary, including a state ceremony which will take place on January 27 in Poland with the participation of the president of the State of Israel.

This session marks the first time that the UN General Assembly has convened to commemorate the Holocaust. Also for the first time, Israel's national anthem Hatikva was sung at the UN.

The Israeli initiative regarding the UN Special Session was intended to strengthen international awareness of the Holocaust and the struggle against anti-Semitism, along with the related significance of the rebirth of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

Significance of the Special Session of the General Assembly

This is the 28th Special Session of the General Assembly convened since the UN's establishment in 1946. The first two Special Sessions were held in 1947 and 1948, and discussed what was known at the time as the Palestine problem. No other Special Sessions have dealt with issues relating to Israel. 

The Special Session of the General Assembly is the most formal of all UN fora. It is the most difficult to convene, since it is first necessary to obtain the support of a majority of the UN member-states. This is a particularly difficult task for the State of Israel, which faces an almost automatic UN majority of opposing Arab countries and their supporters. 

The convening of the Special Session is a significant accomplishment for the State of Israel and the fight against anti-Semitism. Israel views the session as an event of the highest importance for the Jewish people and the entire world. This is the first time that the international community has convened formally to commemorate the Holocaust, its victims and the bravery of those who fought and defeated the Nazis.

Proceedings

The UN General Assembly Special Session opened with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, followed by addresses from the UN Secretary General, Israel's Foreign Minister, representatives of the liberated countries, representatives of the countries that initiated the Special Session, spokespeople of the regional UN groups, and Eli Wiesel, who spoke on behalf of Holocaust survivors.

Israel's delegation to the UN Special Session was headed by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom. The Minister invited Holocaust survivors to participate as part of the official Israeli delegation at the event, including former Knesset speakers Dov Shilansky and Shevah Weiss, Holocaust Survivor Association head David Greenstein, Maj.-Gen. (res) Yossi Peled and actress Gila Almagor.

On the day of the UN Special Session, Foreign Minister Shalom and the UN Secretary General inaugurated an exhibit organized by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority about the Auschwitz death camp. It will be displayed for a number of weeks in the foyer of UN headquarters in New York.

Speeches

• "Shall these bones live?"
  - Address by Silvan Shalom, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Israel, at the UNGA Special Session
  
  
• "It must always be remembered that Israel is the only place in the world where we, the Jews, have the right and the capability to defend ourselves, by ourselves. And we will never relinquish this."
  - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Speech on January 26 at the Special Knesset Session Marking the Struggle Against Anti-Semitism
  
  
• "We must be vigilant against all ideologies based on hatred and exclusion, whenever and wherever they may appear."
  - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement at the UNGA Special Session

Links

• UN official web page for the “Commemoration of the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Liberation of the Nazi Concentration Camps”
  - http://www.un.org/ga/28special/
  
  
• Israel’s Mission to the UN web page set up by for the Special Session
  - http://www.israel-un.org/spsession/