Finnish Government renames the 27th of January conmemoration to IHRD

The Chancellery of the Finnish State Council decided that starting from January 27, 2024, Finland will switch to using the name Holocaust Victims’ Remembrance Day, in accordance with international practice, from the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Persecution.

The name change starts to be updated in the new calendars after the University Almanac Office has informed its customers about the change.

Holocaust Remembrance Day is currently conmemorated in many countries. Especially in Western and Central Europe, the celebration of the day is a visible political event. In 1995, the European Parliament passed a resolution on pan-European practice, according to which every member state of the European Union must celebrate Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. The European Union also uses the name Holocaust Remembrance Day.

In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution to celebrate International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 every year. Finland voted in favor of accepting the resolution.

The decision to change the name to Holocaust Victims’ Memorial Day takes into account the guidelines of the Government’s communique, the international naming practice of memorial days, and the resolutions of the European Parliament and the UN. Internationally, xenophobia and antisemitism have also been opposed more generally on Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the victims of persecutions that happened in different parts of the world at different times have been remembered.

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