HARRISBURG, April 1, 2009 – The state Senate today unanimously passed a resolution co-sponsored by Sen. Daylin Leach, D-Delaware/Montgomery, that designates April 19 through April 26, 2009 as “Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust” in Pennsylvania.
The resolution also urged Pennsylvanians to participate in the international commemoration of the Holocaust on April 21, 2009, named the Day of Remembrance of Victims of the Nazi Holocaust, or Yom Hashoah.
The resolution’s prime sponsor, Sen. Mike Stack, D-Philadelphia, called for the remembrance of Holocaust victims “in the hope that we may strive to overcome prejudice and inhumanity through education, vigilance and resistance.”
During the floor remarks, Leach offered insight into a similar tragedy less often discussed – the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923. Known as the Armenian Holocaust, the genocide at the hands of the Turkish Ottoman Empire took the lives of 1.5 million men, woman and children of Armenian descent.
Leach noted that each year, April 24 is set aside for remembrance of the genocide.
“Revisionists still inexplicably deny the existence of these horrific events, and modern Turkey continues to distort the facts surrounding the genocide. By consistently remembering and openly condemning the atrocities committed against the Armenians, Pennsylvanians affirm the need for constant vigilance to prevent similar atrocities in the future,” Leach said.
“Like our Jewish brethren, Armenian Americans living in Pennsylvania have greatly enriched this Commonwealth through their leadership in business, agriculture, academia, government and the arts,” he continued. “I hope the passage of this resolution will remind us that we cannot move forward into the future without remembering our past.”
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