Holocaust Remembrance Day marked in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU, May 3: The Embassy of Israel and Kathmandu University
jointly organized a program to mark the Israeli Holocaust Remembrance
Day "Yom HaShaoh" on Friday.

The program was held at the presence of the professors, teachers and
students of Kathmandu University in Dhulikhel to remember the six
million Jews murdered during the Holocaust between 1939 to 1945.
Israel marks the Holocaust Remembrance Day one week prior to its
Independence Day, which falls on 9 May this year.

Speaking during the memorial, Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University
Ram K. Shrestha said, “we are here to share norms and abnorms, things
we can do and not, with the future generations. The Holocaust, where
millions of people were murdered including 6 million Jews in Europe,
should not repeat.”

Benny Omer, Ambassador of Israel, remarked that around two- thirds of
the Jewish populations of Europe were systematically murdered by Nazi
Germany aided by local collaborators during World War II (1941-1945).
One of the worst events occurring in the history of mankind, this
event was conducted in ghettos or concentration camps where large
number of Jews were brought in, forced to work in terrible conditions
and murdered in Gas chambers'.

This is the first time the Holocaust memorial ceremony was organized
outside Kathmandu. "This event has been an important milestone in
spreading the message of tolerance and fighting against racism and
educating the future generation not to repeat such brutality in any
form," read a press statement issued by the Israel Embassy in
Kathmandu.

The memorial ceremony was followed by a display of an exhibition
entitled "Beyond the Duty", which portrays role of diplomats during
World War II who acted against their own Government instructions to
save lives of thousands of Jews, risking their own lives.

The exhibition remains open to public from 2-15 May 2019 during office
hours at the Gallery of Kathmandu Universitypremises, Dhulikhel.