RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, tens of thousands of Jewish households call Chicago, the surrounding suburbs and the 50th Ward "home," and our heritage is part of Chicago's rich history; and
WHEREAS, the Jewish American experience has been affected dramatically by the Holocaust with nearly one in four Jewish residents of Chicagoland being descendants of a Holocaust survivor, victim, or refugee; and
WHEREAS, January 27 marks years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, by the Soviet Army in Poland in 1945; and
WHEREAS, this day is designated internationally by the United Nations as Holocaust Remembrance Day and serves as a day for people across the world to remember the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust alongside the millions of other people killed by Nazis and their >> collaborators; and .
WHEREAS, this day is also a stark reminder that genocide has continued across the world over the decades since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau; and
WHEREAS, across the United States, and here in Chicago we have seen a dramatic four-fold increase since 2016 in hate crimes and violence against Jewish people and we must be more vigilant than ever against attacks on the dignity and welfare of ethnic and religious groups; and
WHEREAS, "Ordinary People" is the theme of Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023, a reference to how genocide is facilitated and perpetrated by ordinary people, that other ordinary people turn a blind eye and allow violent acts to take place and those who suffer are ordinary people who have done nothing wrong aside from belong, to the group that has been targeted; Cwo/
WHEREAS, this theme is captured in a quote by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel: "What is abnormal is that I am normal. That I survived the Holocaust and went on to love beautiful girls to talk, to write, to have toast and tea and live my life - that is what is abnormal
HEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Members ofthe City Council ofthe City Chicago, ...
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