Scoop: UN to hold solemn events in memory of Holocaust

Over six decades after the liberation of the Nazi death camps began, the United Nations this week will hold a series of solemn events culminating on Friday with the first universal observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The activities, which are being organized by the UN Department of Public Information, stem from the General Assembly's decision, taken one year ago, to designate the International Day on 27 January, the date the Auschwitz camp fell to allied forces in 1945. The 191-member Assembly adopted that resolution by consensus. Its provisions reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event and condemn all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, whenever they occur.