Senate Resolution No. 2660

BY: Senator THOMAS

        MEMORIALIZING Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim
        January  27,  2020,  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 the 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, 2020, 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 and cruelly 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 2020 marks the 87th Anniversary of  the  beginning
of  the genocide of European Jews, which is the bleakest, most murderous
moment in history; and

  WHEREAS, The Holocaust represents the darkest period in the  history
of  civilization  of  mankind  and must always be remembered in order to
prevent its reoccurrence and promote respect and common humanity; 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, which in  its
operation murdered over one million Jews, was liberated by Soviet Troops
in 1945, freeing over 7,000 prisoners; and

  WHEREAS,  The year 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation
of Auschwitz-Birkenau; 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, 2020, 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.