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WHEREAS, the Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry and other "life unworthy of life" by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Jews were the primary victims, and almost six million were murdered. About 5 million other innocent citizens were murdered including Gypsies, the Handicapped, Poles, Homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Soviet Prisoners of War, and Political Dissidents; and,
WHEREAS, the history of the Holocaust offers an opportunity to reflect on the moral responsibilities of individuals, societies, and governments; and,
WHEREAS, we, as citizens of the City of Pittsburgh, and our nation, the land of the free, should always remember the terrible events of the Holocaust and remain vigilant against hatred, persecution, and tyranny; and,
WHEREAS, we should actively rededicate ourselves to the principles of individual freedom, justice, national liberty, and equality; and,
WHEREAS, on November 1, 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated January 27th International Holocaust Remembrance Day in honor of the date soldiers of the Soviet Army liberated the survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp.
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NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby proclaim January 27, 2008 Holocaust Remembrance Day in the City of Pittsburgh.