Sixty-nine years have passed since the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, but it seems as if one of the most horrible genocides in the history of humanity – Holocaust – is something very distant and blurred for today’s generations, thus it is remembered only by a few still living survivals. With the eagerness to prevent the loss of memory on one of the darkest sides of human history, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the 27 January as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Center of Jewish Cultural Heritage Synagogue Maribor commemorates the International Holocaust Remembrance Day since 2010 annually with the project “Shoah – Let Us Remember”, whereas each year more and more organizers throughout Slovenia are joining the project.
This year the International Holocaust Remembrance Day will be commemorated between 22 and 30 January in Maribor, Celje, Murska Sobota, Lendava, Ljubljana, Pesnica near Maribor, Pivka, Nova Gorica, and in Laafeld (Austria) with following events:
– Exhibitions openings: Anne’s Peers from Maribor, Holocaust 1933-1945: Courage to Remember, Star Stripe – Exhibition on Holocaust, Tracing Jewish Heritage in Slovenia;
– Guided tours at the exhibition Roma on the Move and history school lesson on the theme of Holocaust;
– Scientific meeting: Each Year One Name: Zora Pičulin, Slovenian Righteous Among the Nations;
– Projection of a documentary film;
– Lectures by: Boris Hajdinjak Kohsteins and Singers – Holocaust victims from Maribor, Franc Kuzmič Conceptions of the Soul and Death Rituals in Jewish Culture, Oto Luthar and Martin Pogačar Land of Shadows – Disappearance of the Jewish Community in Prekmurje, and Renato Podbersič Forgotten Heroism at Isonzo River;
– Presentation on The Future Slovenian Righteous Among the Nations Andrej Vendramin, a Teacher from Solkan by Renato Podbersič and Cvetko Vendramin, and book presentation Die Erinnerungen des Grazer Rabbiners David Herzog;
– Concert of Klarisa Jovanović & Della segodba, radio show On Jews from Prekmurje and their Fate, and other different commemorative events.
Honorary patron of the project “Shoah – Let Us Remember, 2014” is Karl Erjavec, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. The project was realised with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Municipality of Maribor and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance − IHRA.
