On May 9, 2012, the 19th Annual Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Program will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the Historic Lincoln Theatre, in Washington, DC. While many Federal agencies already serve as sponsors of this program by providing financial and/or logistical support, this is to encourage your continued support, as well as allowing a reasonable amount of time for your employees to attend the event this year.
This annual Holocaust program is authorized through Public Law 96-388, which Congress passed on October 7, 1980, as part of honoring the “Days of Remembrance.” Through the act, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council was instructed to provide for appropriate ways for the Nation to commemorate the Days of Remembrance, as an annual, national, civil commemoration of the Holocaust and to encourage and sponsor appropriate observances throughout the United States. This event is within compliance of the congressional mandate.
The “Days of Remembrance” honors the six million Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust, and the five million other victims including Soviet prisoners of war (3.3 million), Polish Christians (2.0 million), physically and mentally disabled (250,000 plus), Jehovah’s Witnesses, Romani or Sinti people (formerly referred to as Gypsies), homosexuals, freemasons, people with beliefs opposed to Nazi conduct, trade unionists, clergymen, and African-German people. Our Nation commemorates the days annually so that each year anyone who does not know about the Holocaust will learn, and so that people who have learned will never forget.
More information about the Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Program can be found at http://holocaustremembrance.org/. Please forward this information to the Agency’s Federal Inter-Agency Holocaust Remembrance Program planning committee representative or the office that supports special events.