Pupils from Principality mark Day of Holocaust Remembrance and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity

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On 18 October 2002, European education ministers adopted a declaration instituting a Day of Holocaust Remembrance and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity. While the choice of date was left to individual countries, the 27^th of January, anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp by the Soviet army, is the most symbolic day.

On 27 January this year, the commemorations were particularly resonant, with 54 delegations and more than 50 Holocaust survivors present at Auschwitz to mark 80 years since the camp was discovered. The Principality was represented by a delegation led by Ms Isabelle Berro-Amadeï, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and acting Minister of State. The delegation also included two pupils: Johar Benbrikhou, who attends the Institution François d’Assise-Nicolas Barré, and Laura Vaselli, a final-year student at Lycée Albert I. They were accompanied by Ms Nikol Abecassis, a teacher at the Institution François d’Assise-Nicolas Barré.

The following day in Monaco, as part of the reflection and educational activities encouraged by the Department of Education, Youth and Sport to mark the Day of Holocaust Remembrance and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity, pupils studying drama at Lycée Albert I put on a performance watched by local secondary school students. The theatrical performance featured poems by Charlotte Delbo, Nelly Sachs and Paul Celan, while also paying tribute to individuals linked to the history of Monaco: Herbert Traube, a member of the Resistance born in 1924; Mieczyslaw Oxner (1879–1944), Laboratory Director at the Oceanographic Museum, who died after being deported; poet and journalist Armand Gatti (1924–2017); and Joséphine Baker (1906–1975), the artist and member of the Resistance.

The awareness efforts took on particular resonance this year, as 2024 saw the commemoration of 80 years since the Liberation of France, and in 2025, we are commemorating 80 years since the 1945 Victory and the liberation of Auschwitz.