The Jewish community in Germany has welcomed the establishment of Jan. 27 as a national day of remembrance for the victims of Nazi terror.
The day was chosen to mark the Jan. 27, 1945, liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.
In his announcement Wednesday, German President Roman Herzog warned future German generations to remain vigilant and said that remembrance must not end.
Herzog also said that in 1995, the 50the anniversary of the end of World War II, Germans commemorated “millions of people who were deprived of their rights, persecuted, tortured and murdered” by the Nazi regime of “racial mania and genocide.”
On Jan. 27, a commemorative ceremony will take place in the German Parliament.
The Central Council for Jews in Germany, which represents the Jewish community, also praised the move.
The council said that about the time of the memorial day, it would be important for schools and universities to conduct intensive discussions and programs about Nazism.
The council added it hoped that other members of the European Union would join Germany in proclaiming Jan. 27 as a memorial day for the victims of the Nazis.
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