PA SR209

Pennsylvania Senate recognizes January 27, 2026, as "International Holocaust Remembrance Day" to honor the estimated 17 million people killed by the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945

January 27 marks the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest concentration camp, where Soviet soldiers freed more than 6,000 prisoners

The Holocaust resulted in approximately 6 million Jewish deaths out of a pre-war European Jewish population of more than 9 million, along with targeted killings of Romani, disabled individuals, homosexuals, Poles, and other groups

The United Nations General Assembly established January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005

The resolution encourages using the day to condemn religious intolerance, harassment, or violence against individuals or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief