SENATE RESOLUTION

8624

BySenators C. Wilson, Wellman, Conway, Fortunato, Hasegawa, Kuderer, Salomon, Torres, Valdez, and Wagoner

WHEREAS, On Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, we recognize the victims and survivors of Nazi Germany's heinous persecution and attempt to eliminate Jewish people across Europe; and

WHEREAS, The Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators comprised two-thirds of the European Jewry; and

WHEREAS, The year 2023 marks the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide of European Jews, one of the darkest moments in our history; and

WHEREAS, Many Washington residents, present and former, had to bear witness to the violent elimination of their family and friends during the Holocaust, and live with those scars everyday; and

WHEREAS, It is important that generations, current and future, are taught about these actions so that the stories of the survivors are never lost, and education is the only way to prevent such actions from happening again; and

WHEREAS, The United States Holocaust Memorial Council has designated Sunday, April 16, 2023, through Sunday, April 23, 2023, as Holocaust Remembrance week and Tuesday, April 18, 2023, as Holocaust Remembrance Day; and

WHEREAS, The senate recognize that it is important to remember the sacrifices of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust to stand up and speak out in the face of religious and ethnic persecution, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and all other forms of bigotry and hatred; and

WHEREAS, The People of Washington state must unify behind love and community over hatred and bigotry to create a stronger state, country, and world that serves every one of us here and those yet to come;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington state senate join the United States Holocaust Memorial Council in observing Sunday, April 16, 2023, through Sunday, April 23, 2023, as Holocaust Remembrance week and Tuesday, April 18, 2023, designated as Holocaust Remembrance Day.

I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8624,

adopted by the Senate

April 18, 2023

SARAH BANNISTER

Secretary of the Senate