Survivor to address United Nations on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
January 26, 2025 by J-Wire News Service
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Holocaust survivor and educator Marianne Miller will address the United Nations General Assembly on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Adir Miller, Marriane Miller and March of the Living Deputy CEO Revital Yakin Krakovsky. (Credit: March of the Living)
Born in Budapest during World War II, Miller endured the horrors of the Holocaust, including the forced separation of her family and the murder of multiple close relatives. Despite the unimaginable hardships, she survived and later dedicated her life to educating future generations about the Holocaust and the dangers of hatred and intolerance.
This year marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, where over 1.2 million people, including 400,000 Hungarian Jews, were murdered. Miller will highlight the need for vigilance against rising antisemitism and the imperative to preserve the memory of the Holocaust for future generations. She will deliver her remarks accompanied by her four children and seven grandchildren.
“I will speak not only in my name, but in the name of the six million Jews who were murdered and who watching us from the heavens,” Miller, who lives in Israel, said ahead of her visit to the US for the commemoration event.
Miller’s journey to the UN began following her participation in the 2024 International March of the Living, where she shared her story of survival with thousands of participants joining commemorative marches through both Budapest in Hungary and Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland.
There, she expressed her dream of addressing world leaders at the UN to tell her story. Following the march, Revital Yakin-Krakovsky, Deputy CEO of the International March of the Living, approached Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, who worked to make the dream a reality.
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said: “After learning about Marianne Miller’s incredible story, I invited her to share her moving and courageous story on the UN stage. Marianne and Holocaust survivors are our moral voice, reminding the world that the Holocaust is not just a historical memory, but a call to action for the values of justice and morality. Memory does not sustain itself – it must be protected, fought for, and nurtured to ensure it is not erased. This year, on Yom HaShoah, I will be leading a delegation of UN Ambassadors to the International March of the Living in Poland to bear witness and to ensure that this will never happen again.”
Revital Yakin-Krakovsky, Deputy CEO of the International March of the Living, added: “Marianne is a voice of hope, optimism, love, and strength. She carries the stories of those who were brutally murdered by the Nazis while representing the resilience of the survivor generation. I thank Ambassador Danon for his dedication in helping Marianne realize her dream of speaking on the world’s most important stage.”
The day after her UN address, the Israeli-American Council (IAC) in New York will host a special screening of The Ring, a film written, directed, and starring Marianne’s son, Adir Miller. The movie, based on Marianne’s own experiences during the Holocaust, tells the moving story of a mother’s extraordinary courage in saving her baby from the Nazis. The Ring has resonated with audiences across Israel, drawing over 240,000 viewers in just a few weeks.
The event will be held on Monday, January 27, 2025, at 11:00 AM New York time (6:00 PM Israel time).
