WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, designated as a memorial day for the six million European Jews, including 1.5 million children, that were annihilated by the Nazi regime in concentration camps across German-occupied Europe.
The primary objective of the holiday is to honor both the deceased and surviving victims as well as to promote awareness of the Holocaust worldwide. January 27 is the date, in 1945, when the largest Nazi death camp (Auschwitz-Birkenau) was liberated by Soviet troops. This camp was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was the largest of the German concentration camps.
