UNIS Vienna organized a solemn ceremony to draw attention to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS), which was held today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps. The ceremony took place at the Rotunda in the Vienna International Centre (VIC). Nasra Hassan, Director, UNIS Vienna, and Spokesperson, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, hosted the event.
The VIC choir opened the ceremony with two short pieces (Verleih uns Frieden by Distler and Song of Peace by Sibelius). The Permanent Representatives of the "Allied Powers", which liberated the camps, France, the Russian Federation, UK and a representative of the US Permanent Mission to the United Nations (Vienna), made brief statements to mark the occasion. They were joined by the Permanent Representatives of Germany and Poland to the United Nations (Vienna) and the Resident Representative of Israel to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. The Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations (Vienna) spoke as representative of the host country. A representative of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia also spoke. The ceremony ended with a minute of silence.
The ceremony was well attended by a number of Permanent Representatives, diplomatic staff, civil society and non-governmental organizations, media (AFP, AP, Kyodo News, APA, Der Standard) and United Nations staff members. Two major Austrian dailies reported on the event.
* *** *
