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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The Holocaust was the systemic annihilation of | ||||||
3 | six million Jews and millions of other victims by the Nazis in | ||||||
4 | the Second World War; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Illinois is the home to many Holocaust survivors | ||||||
6 | and their families; and
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7 | WHEREAS, In 1990, Illinois was one of the first states in | ||||||
8 | the nation to require education on the Holocaust in public | ||||||
9 | schools; and
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10 | WHEREAS, The U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and | ||||||
11 | Awareness Survey, released in September of 2020, demonstrated | ||||||
12 | that 59 percent of Illinoisans did not know that six million | ||||||
13 | Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and that 54 percent of | ||||||
14 | Illinois respondents could not name a single concentration | ||||||
15 | camp or ghetto; and
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16 | WHEREAS, According to the Federal Bureau of | ||||||
17 | Investigation's 2019 Hate Crimes Statistics Report, hate | ||||||
18 | crimes rose to their highest in a decade with a record breaking | ||||||
19 | 51 fatal attacks; there were 953 reports of anti-Jewish hate | ||||||
20 | crimes in 2019; this is a 14% increase from the previous year; | ||||||
21 | and
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1 | WHEREAS, Jewish students on college campuses in Illinois | ||||||
2 | have endured an unrelenting campaign of anti-Semitic | ||||||
3 | harassment, which led to an investigation by the United States | ||||||
4 | Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights into the | ||||||
5 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for its response to | ||||||
6 | such acts on campus; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Teaching the lessons of the Holocaust leads to an | ||||||
8 | understanding of the ramifications of prejudice and racism, | ||||||
9 | encourages tolerance of diversity, and nurtures the protection | ||||||
10 | of democratic values and institutions; and
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11 | WHEREAS, On January 27, 1945, the Nazi Concentration and | ||||||
12 | Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by the | ||||||
13 | Allied troops; and
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14 | WHEREAS, The United Nations General Assembly designated | ||||||
15 | January 27 as an annual International Day of Commemoration in | ||||||
16 | memory of the victims of the Holocaust; and
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17 | WHEREAS, The United Nations urges its members to develop | ||||||
18 | educational programs to help prevent future genocides; and
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19 | WHEREAS, A Holocaust Education Week can be used to spur | ||||||
20 | discussion in schools, communities, and civic organizations |
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1 | throughout Illinois about hate, discrimination, and prejudice | ||||||
2 | and hopefully reduce the number of hate crimes in the State; | ||||||
3 | therefore, be it
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4 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
5 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
6 | we declare the week of January 27, 2021 as Holocaust Education | ||||||
7 | Week in the State of Illinois; and be it further
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8 | RESOLVED, That we encourage school districts and local | ||||||
9 | residents to support this week and participate in informed | ||||||
10 | educational events planned to commemorate the occasion.
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