United Nations marks official remembrance of WWII victims; traces back to its creation

The United Nations on May 8, marked the official remembrance of the tens of millions of civilians and armed forces soldiers who died during the Second World War (WWII) between 1939 and 1945. It also traced back to the history that led to the establishment of the United Nations after the resolution 59/26 of 22 November 2004 was created. The UN General Assembly declared 8–9 May a day to commemorate the fallen lives of remembrance and reconciliation. The agency invited all member states, organizations of the United Nations System, non-governmental organizations, and individuals the said days in order to pay tribute to all victims of WWII. 

“A special solemn meeting of the General Assembly in commemoration of all victims of the war was held in the second week of May 2010, marking the sixty-fifth anniversary of the end of the Second World War,” the UN stated in a release. At the commemoration, UN’s Secretary-General called the Second World War “one of the most epic struggles for freedom and liberation in history,” adding that “its cost was beyond calculation, beyond comprehension: 40 million civilians dead; 20 million soldiers, nearly half of those in the Soviet Union alone.”

The General Assembly was formed under the resolution 69/267 to observe the devastating impact of the Second World War, which the UN said: “brought untold sorrow to humankind, particularly in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Pacific and other parts of the world.” It further underlined that “the progress made since the end of the Second World War in overcoming its legacy and promoting reconciliation, international and regional cooperation and democratic values, human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular through the United Nations, and the establishment of regional and subregional organizations and other appropriate frameworks.”

'Keeping memory alive' initiatives

UN held a special seventieth anniversary of the Second World War on 5 May 2015 and held the opening ceremony of the Photo Exhibition entitled: ‘The Lessons of the Long-gone War We Still Remember’ on May 9. In 2017, the UN marked a Special event entitled ‘Monuments: Keeping the Memory of the Long-gone War Alive’ by the Tree of Peace and Unity at 18:00 on the Southside of the General Assembly Building. And in the 2010 commemoration, it screened several wartime films and conducted the ‘Special Solemn Meeting’ of the UN General Assembly. 

“That was an absolutely unimaginable, devastating destruction in the world,” UN General Secretary told a conference in May 2018. “I think we need to pay tribute to those that in the Soviet Union at the same time represented the biggest military effort against Nazism, but also by far the biggest number of sacrifices,” he said. 

IMAGE: Unsplash/Twitter/@RealtimeWWII