27/01/2026
Trigger Warning: Discussion of genocide
…𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑓 𝑤𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑡. 𝑆𝑢𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑙𝑦, 𝑜𝑛e 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡.
“𝑀𝑎𝑚𝑎. 𝑀𝑎𝑚𝑎. 𝐼𝑡’𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑚𝑎,” 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑. 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑡𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑦. 𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑏𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠. 𝑊𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟.
[Excerpt from Echoes of Auschwitz: Dr. Mengele’s Twins, the story of Eva and Miram Mozes by Eza Mozes Kor as told by Mary Wright]
This 27th of January, the United Nations (UN) observes the 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗺𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁, marking the 81st year since the Auschwitz Birkenau German N**i Concentration and Extermination Camp was liberated by the Red Army in 1945.
Auschwitz, a complex of more than 40 concentration and extermination camps in N**i Germany-occupied Poland during the World War II, is a symbol of genocide: the deliberate, systematic destruction of a group of people based on their ethnicity, race, or religion. Between 1940 and the liberation of the first camp (Auschwitz III, a labor camp in Monowitz) on January 27, 1945, over 1.3 million people had been sent to Auschwitz. An estimated 1,080,000-1,085,000 people died there. Many of these were Jews, but there were also Ethnic Poles, Roma and Sinti, Soviet prisoners of war, and other European citizens.
𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑙𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑚, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠. 𝑌𝑒𝑡 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑢𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚. 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛! 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑠’ 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒. 𝐼𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝐼 𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒; 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑝, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑐ℎ 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟, 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑. 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑜𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑠; 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠, 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑙𝑢𝑒, 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒. 𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑘𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑘𝑖𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑑. 𝐼 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝑑𝑢𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑏𝑦 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑒.
[Excerpt from Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account by Miklos Nyiszli)
The theme of this year’s celebration, ""𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀,"" is a call to the public to stand for human rights, not only for himself but for his neighbors. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted in 1948, was created in response to the atrocities of the Holocaust and World War II. It set standards for the protection of humans during wartime and peace time, serving as the foundation for modern international law, treaties, and bills of rights in many national constitutions. The Holocaust is only one example of the horrific atrocities man is capable of when he is indifferent to the suffering of his fellow human being.
…[𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑑 𝐴𝑟𝑚𝑦] 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑏𝑦 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡, 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑒. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑒 [𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑠] 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑠 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ, 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜, 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒: 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑛’𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒; 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑔𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑢𝑙𝑙, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒.
[Excerpt from If This is a Man by by Primo Levi, who was arrested and incarcerated in Auschwitz III]
It is important to emphasize that we are all, each of us, thinking and feeling creatures, with qualities that, though different, make us neither better nor lesser deserving of life, liberty, security, freedom of expression and movement, and rights to marriage, education, health, and employment, than others.
Written by Miya Ocayo
Layout and Design by Jun Sun Magcanam
remember
-AMSA
