Sunday 27 January is Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2013 to commemorate those communities which were destroyed during the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution and the subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
This afternoon at 12.45 a train left Santa Maria Novella station in Florence with 506 students from 82 different schools scattered right across the Tuscany region along with 83 teachers and 51 university students and representatives from local politics.
It was the eighth Treno della Memoria Toscano to leave Tuscany on its way for a five-day visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau as part of the commemorations and testimony from Holocaust.
The station in Florence is of particular importance in Italy as it was there on 8 March 1944 that hundreds were deported to Nazi death camps in sealed waggons.
In fact there is a plaque to commemorate these event right of the start of platform six in the Santa Maria Novella station.
Tomorrow morning at 7.30 am, those taking part in this years Memory Train will arrive at the railway station in Oswiecim (Auschwitz) where they will be moved in coaches to the death camp Birkenau
Later on that morning there will be ceremony at the international monument for victims of Nazi Fascism where the students will be broadcasting the names of those who were deported to Auschwitz, many but not all Jewish as in amongst there were also political prisoners, Rom and others considered “undesirable”
There are representatives from Barga attending this ceremony, some arriving on the memory train and others arriving independently.
They will be sending images from their five day visit and so this article will be updated regularly over the next couple of days.
no images were found
United Nations statement of commitment
We recognise that the Holocaust shook the foundations of modern civilisation.
Its unprecedented character and horror will always hold universal meaning.
We believe the Holocaust must have a permanent place in our nation’s collective memory.
We honour the survivors still with us, and reaffirm our shared goals of mutual understanding and justice.
We must make sure that future generations understand the causes of the Holocaust and reflect upon its consequences.
We vow to remember the victims of Nazi persecution and of all genocide.
We value the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives to protect or rescue victims, as a touchstone of the human capacity for good in the face of evil.
We recognise that humanity is still scarred by the belief that race, religion, disability or sexuality make some people’s lives worth less than others’.
Genocide, antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and discrimination still continue.
We have a shared responsibility to fight these evils.
We pledge to strengthen our efforts to promote education and research about the Holocaust and other genocide.
We will do our utmost to make sure that the lessons of such events are fully learnt.
We will continue to encourage Holocaust remembrance by holding an annual Holocaust Memorial Day.
We condemn the evils of prejudice, discrimination and racism.
We value a free, tolerant, and democratic society.