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Pa. House remembers victims of the Holocaust

HARRISBURG, March 25 – State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Phila., said the Pennsylvania House of Representatives this week unanimously adopted her resolution to recognize April 11 through 17 as the 2010 Days of Remembrance, and April 11 specifically as Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"During World War II, millions of people -- European Jews, gypsies, Poles, Soviet war prisoners and the disabled -- were systematically captured, detained and deported or murdered in the name of Nazism. I think every school student, past and present, knows about the Holocaust and the unspeakable atrocities that were committed," Josephs said.

"But the truth of the matter is that there have been many genocides in the sad history of humanity -- too many to name. I offered this resolution in the hope that there will be no more genocide anywhere on the face of the earth, ever.

"It is up to us as a people, as a society, as a Commonwealth and as a country to preserve the legacy of the victims and the survivors so that we may never forget what happened, so that it cannot happen ever again."

Josephs said that this year's theme of the Days of Remembrance, "stories of freedom: what you do matters," is particularly poignant, as are the memories and stories of Holocaust survivors.

"There are thousands upon thousands of stories from both victims and survivors that make us cringe with fear and shout with outrage, from the well-known diary of Anne Frank and the stories preserved in the U.S. Holocaust Museum to the accounts of liberators and other real-life heroes who confronted the injustice and in doing so, saved countless lives," she said.

"These stories help us to understand and learn from the lessons of courage, tolerance and individual integrity against oppression, destruction and genocide so that future generations never have to witness such violence and mass killings."

The Days of Remembrance have been recognized in April since 1980 when Congress established the days to preserve the legacy of Holocaust victims.

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