The WJC (World Jewish Congress) launched its seventh annual #WeRemember campaign on Thursday in the lead-up to International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th.
The WJC initiative, which takes place Jan. 20 through Jan. 27, seeks to educate people about the Holocaust and preserve its memory, especially as antisemitism continues to surge worldwide. The campaign’s core action is people from around the globe sharing the message “We Remember” on a sheet of paper, taking a photograph and then uploading it on social media using the hashtag #WeRemember.
The campaign further incorporates colorful illumination onto notable monuments worldwide, including at the walls of the Old City in Jerusalem, the Reichstag in Berlin and other landmarks across Israel, Europe and North America.
Participating entities include the European Commission and the NATO headquarters in Brussels, as well as UNESCO in Paris. Global leaders, professional sports organizations, leading cultural figures, corporations and social media companies are also set to participate.
“Participation in the #WeRemember campaign, now in its seventh year, advances Holocaust education at a time of rising levels of antisemitism around the globe,” WJC President Ronald S. Lauder said. “By educating the world about the atrocities of the Holocaust, we help to ensure that it is never repeated.”
The seven-day #WeRemember campaign will also play host to special events and presentations, such as hosting hundreds of German schoolchildren on a livestream featuring 100-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedländer as she shares her personal story. The #WeRemember campaign will symbolically end on January 27th – at the site of the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
“Through the #WeRemember campaign, the World Jewish Congress combats antisemitism, as well as other pernicious forms of hatred and xenophobia,” Lauder declared. “We also seek to preserve the memory of the Holocaust, especially as the number of survivors and other first-hand witnesses continues to dwindle.”
The World Jewish Congress was founded in 1936, in the midst of the Holocaust in Europe, with a mission to strengthen Jewish unity and political influence in order to assure the survival of the Jewish people. The WJC was famously involved in the establishment of the State of Israel, securing reparations from Germany for atrocities committed during the Holocaust and securing rights for Jews in Soviet and Mizrahi regions.