Zurich landmarks to be illuminated in Shoah commemoration

27 January is the annual international Remembrance Day in commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust. Switzerland’s Jewish communities and their umbrella organisations, the SIG and the Platform of Liberal Jews in Switzerland PLJS, are taking part as usual in the WeRemeber campaign organised by the World Jewish Congress WJC and UNESCO.

Zurich to demonstrate its solidarity with the Jewish community

The WeRemember campaign appealed to cities to illuminate some landmark building as a silent sign of remembrance. The city of Zurich, the protestant church organisation of central Zurich and the Jewish religious community ICZ spontaneously announced their support. Consequently, the Zurich town hall – seat of the municipal government –, the prominent Grossmünster church and ICZ’s synagogue in Löwenstrasse will be illuminated and thus visible from afar from 6pm onward on 27 January 2022. The illumination will in part bear the WeRemember lettering. Key Zurich landmarks will thereby convey an important message, underscore the city’s Jewish history and demonstrate its solidarity with the local Jewish community.

A signal of «never again»

27 January is the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The place and name of Auschwitz have come to stand for both the crimes of the Nazis and the unspeakable suffering of the Holocaust victims. After the largest concentration camp of its kind was liberated on 27 January 1945, the almost unimaginable extent of the horror of the Shoah gradually became known to the world. Switzerland’s Jewish community, together with other religious and political representatives, intend to send a wordless yet widely visible signal. A signal of commemoration, a signal of remembrance, a signal of «never again», but also a signal for the future of this country’s diverse Jewish life and activities.

Schedule

27 January 2022 from 6pm to 11pm

Illumination of the facades of

• Löwenstrasse Synagogue, Nüschelerstrasse 36, 8001 Zurich
• Zurich Town Hall, Stadthausquai 17, 8001 Zurich
• Grossmünster church, Grossmünsterplatz, 8001 Zurich