PROCLAMATION
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
WHEREAS, the Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945; six million Jews were murdered; Roma (Gypsies), people with disabilities, and Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic, or national reasons; and millions more, including homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war, and political dissidents, also suffered grievous oppression and death under Nazi tyranny; and
WHEREAS, the history of the Holocaust offers an opportunity to reflect on the moral responsibilities of individuals, societies, and governments; and
WHEREAS, we the people of the State of California should always remember the terrible events of the Holocaust and remain vigilant against hatred, persecution, and tyranny; and
WHEREAS, we the people of the State of California should actively rededicate ourselves to the principles of individual freedom in a just society; and
WHEREAS, the Days of Remembrance have been set aside for the people of California to remember the victims of the Holocaust as well as to reflect on the need for respect of all peoples; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to an Act of Congress (Public Law 96-388, October 7, 1980), the United States Holocaust Memorial Council designates the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust to be Sunday, April 15, through Sunday, April 22, 2012, including the Day of Remembrance known as Yom Hashoah, April 19, 2012;
NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim the week of Sunday, April 15, through Sunday, April 22, 2012, as Days of Remembrance in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and in honor of the survivors as well as the rescuers and liberators, and further proclaim that we, as citizens of California should work to promote human dignity and confront hate whenever and wherever it occurs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 16th day of April 2012.
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EDMUND G. BROWN JR.
Governor of California
ATTEST:
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DEBRA BOWEN
Secretary of State