HomeMy WebLinkAbout21-052 RESOLUTION NO. 21-052
A RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING THE DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE OF THE VICTIMS OF THE
HOLOCAUST TO BE APRIL 18-24, 2021 AND WEDNESDAY APRIL 21, 2021 AS
"HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY" IN ST. LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County, Florida, has made
the following determinations:
1. Congress established the Days of Remembrance as our nation's annual commemoration of the
victims of the Holocaust.
2. The Holocaust was the systematic murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazis and their
collaborators. Between the German invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 and the
end of the war in Europe in May 1945, Nazi Germany and its accomplices strove to murder every
Jew under their domination.
3. Because Nazi persecution of the Jews began with Hitler's accession to power in January 1933,
many historians consider this the start of the Holocaust era. The Jews were not the only victims
of Hitler's regime, but they were the only group that the Nazis sought to annihilate.
4. While Holocaust is the common name used for this tragedy since the 1960s among the English-
speaking world; the event was historically referred to as Shoah by the Jews themselves, which
has a slightly different meaning.
5. Holocaust is from an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and originally meant a
sacrificial offering that was burnt completely, until nothing was left. Some people object to using
this term, as it suggests some sort of sacrificial or religious significance to the event. The word
Shoah is Hebrew and when translated means "a great catastrophe".
6. The theme for this year's Days of Remembrance is Never Again: What You Do Matters.
Although many German citizens disapproved of the events of those days, very few took action to
try to stop the violence. German Jews were systematically stripped of their citizenship and basic
human rights. This dehumanization of the Jews culminated in the Holocaust (Shoah).
7. The Holocaust demonstrates one of the greatest lessons about individual responsibility that each
of us has the choice to act or not to act, and there are consequences to our decisions.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of County Commissioners of St. Lucie County,
Florida that this Board does hereby proclaim the week of April 18-24, 2021 as "DAYS OF
REMEMBRANCE" and Wednesday, April 21, 2021 as "HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY" in St . Lucie
County, Florida and further urge all St . Lucie County citizens to join us in this special observance.
PASSED AND DULY ADOPTED this 6th day of April 2021.
ATTEST: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ST LUCIE COUNTY, FLORIDA
"k,2.4AQ1� I BY: e43g2°00/i
DEPUTY CLERK � ;_ CHAIR
APPROVED CORRECTNESS:
COUNTY A R EY
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