President Donald Trump and his administration observed Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Thursday, emphasizing the day on which Israel, and Jews, commemorate the event — and the resistance.
From the White House, President Trump tweeted an image of himself and his family at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, on his visit in 2017.
Proclamation on Days of Remembrance of Victims of the Holocaust: https://t.co/l5nVFKI9fr pic.twitter.com/vGPOelEesM
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 3, 2019
The president also linked to his official proclamation of the day:
On Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and during this week of solemn remembrance, we honor the six million Jewish men, women, and children who were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime. We also remember the Roma and Sinti, persons with disabilities, Poles and Slavic ethnic groups, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and persons who were targeted based on their sexual orientation, all of whom were targeted and killed by the Nazis and their collaborators.
…
In Hebrew, the day commemorating victims of the Holocaust is called “Yom HaShoah Ve-Hagevurah,” which means the “Day of (Remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism.” As we honor the victims of the Holocaust, we also celebrate the survivors and daring rescuers who overcame horrific injustices, endless nights of darkness, and daunting odds. Survivors of the Holocaust endured firsthand hatred and evil that sought to extinguish human life, dignity, and freedom. When the heroic American and Allied forces liberated them, the survivors had every right to sorrow and bitterness, but instead, they inspired all of humanity with their unbreakable spirit and the prevailing power of hope and forgiveness over horror and hatred.
In Poland, the first-ever official U.S. government delegation to the annual March of the Living commemoration joined the march from the Auschwitz concentration camp to the Birkenau death camp. Among the delegates were roughly a dozen U.S. ambassadors and officials.
Paul Packer, chair of the Commission for the Preservation of America’ Heritage Abroad, who joined the delegation, issued a statement, stating in part:
On this solemn day of remembrance, we renew our commitment: we will NEVER forget, and we will NEVER again allow such atrocities to be committed against the Jews or any other people. Fulfilling this promise requires action. The horrific shooting this weekend at the Chabad of Poway in California is a reminder that we cannot stand idly by. We must look to our roots and unite through our common heritage as we encounter hate wherever it is found.
Packer added: “I am proud to spend each day working on behalf of the President of the United States of America to further this mission.”
Yom Hashoah is distinct from International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was created by the United Nations in 2005.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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