Georgia CommonsSR 42: International Holocaust Remembrance Day; recognize January 27, 2025
Last action January 29, 2025 · Senate Read and Adopted
A Georgia Senate resolution recognizes January 27, 2025 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the resolution and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
This is a ceremonial resolution from the Georgia Senate, not a change to state law. It formally recognizes January 27, 2025 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the Soviet army's 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in German-occupied Poland. The resolution recounts the history of the Holocaust, the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz, and the death marches that preceded it, and references the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, a state agency created in 1998 to run Holocaust education programs. It directs the Secretary of the Senate to make copies of the resolution available to the public and the press. It does not create any new program, funding, or legal requirement.
What the bill does
- Formally recognizes January 27, 2025 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in a Senate resolution.
- States the Georgia Senate's intent to honor the victims, survivors, and liberators of the Holocaust.
- References the existing Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, created by a 1998 law, without changing its duties or funding.
- Directs the Secretary of the Senate to distribute copies of the resolution to the public and press.
Who it affects
This mainly affects the Georgia Senate itself as a symbolic statement. It also touches the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, whose educational mission is described, and the general public and press, who receive copies of the resolution.
Why it matters
The resolution does not change any law, create funding, or impose requirements. Its practical effect is symbolic, giving official state recognition to Holocaust remembrance and signaling the Senate's stated commitment to opposing hatred, antisemitism, and genocide.
Key provisions
- The resolution's whereas clauses summarize Holocaust history, including the 1945 death marches and the Soviet liberation of Auschwitz.
- It notes the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust, established by HB 1664 in 1998, operates as a secular, non-partisan state agency for Holocaust education.
- The resolving clause has the Senate recognize January 27, 2025 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
- A further resolved clause directs the Secretary of the Senate to make copies available for public and press distribution.
From the bill
“the Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945, resulting in the murder of six million Jews”
“the members of this body recognize January 27, 2025, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day”
Status timeline
- Senate Read and Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
- John Albers (R, SD-056)
- Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
- Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)
- Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
- Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
- Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
- Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
- Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
Topics
- Holocaust remembrance
- Georgia Senate resolutions
- state commemorations
- Holocaust education