Albany, NY – Last week, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic spoke on the Assembly’s resolution commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day (K47) which she introduced. The resolution recognizes the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. The date was established by the United Nations General Assembly as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005.

“Holocaust Remembrance Day serves to make sure that we remember a painful past and ‘never forget’ the horrors of the Holocaust,” said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic. “We have a communal responsibility to speak out on behalf of the oppressed and denounce anti-Semitism and intolerance in all its manifestations.”

Marisa L. Hollywood, Associate Director of The Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Center located on the campus of Queensborough Community College CUNY said: "We are pleased to learn of this important resolution being passed to recognize Holocaust Remembrance Day in New York State. Now, more than ever, with so many documented cases of anti-Semitism and hate crimes taking place, we need to be reminded of the repercussions of unbridled hate. Being on a community college campus in the most diverse borough in the world, our mission is to use the lessons of the Holocaust and other mass atrocities to teach and empower citizens to become agents of positive social change in their lives and in their communities. Hopefully, by educating about the Holocaust we can move towards a future with more understanding and compassion."

Rozic has led efforts to secure funding in the state budget to provide services and programming for survivors as they face struggles directly related to their experiences in the Holocaust.

The full text of the resolution is below.

LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim January 27, 2019, as Holocaust Remembrance Day in the State of New York

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize official days that are set aside to increase awareness of serious events that affect the lives of citizens of New York State; and

WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-standing tradition, it is the sense of this Legislative Body to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim January 27, 2019, as Holocaust Remembrance Day in the State of New York, in conjunction with the observance of International Holocaust Remembrance Day; and

WHEREAS, From 1933 to 1945, 5.8 million Jews were murdered in the Nazi Holocaust as part of a systematic program of genocide, and millions of other people also perished as victims of Nazism; and

WHEREAS, Jews who fell under German control in Eastern and Central Europe were quickly stripped of their rights and property; and

WHEREAS, The Jews who perished at Nazi hands comprised two-thirds of all European Jewry, and in countries such as Poland, which before the second World War included parts of the Ukraine and Belarus, the Jewish death toll surpassed 90 percent; and

WHEREAS, The year 2019 marks the 86th Anniversary of the beginning of the genocide of European Jews, the bleakest, most murderous moment in history; and

WHEREAS, The Holocaust represents the darkest period in the civilization of mankind and must always be remembered in order to prevent its reoccurrence anywhere else in the world; and

WHEREAS, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is observed on January 27th each year, is a day set aside for remembering the millions of victims of the Holocaust; this date was designated by the United Nations General Assembly on November 1, 2005, as it marks the date when Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, was liberated by Soviet Troops in 1945; and

WHEREAS, Remembrance ceremonies are held throughout the United States and around the world to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust on January 27th, including at Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and in the halls of the United Nations in New York City; and

WHEREAS, It is critically important to remember the events of the Holocaust to ensure that the events shall "never again" happen, as has been the rallying cry among the Jewish people; and

WHEREAS, In times of war and chaos, with the threat of genocide and ethnic cleansing present in many war-torn regions of the world, the events of the Holocaust continue to be relevant and important to remember so that suffering on this scale truly never does happen again; and

WHEREAS, Knowing that the events and root causes of the Holocaust must not be forgotten and that, particularly as survivors diminish in number, links must be forged to educate future generations; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim January 27, 2019, as Holocaust Remembrance Day in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of New York.