Friday, January 27, 2023

International Day of Holocaust and Urkanian War Information

 Today is the international holocaust day. This is a day to remember the people who survived the Jewish prison camps. The Russian Red Army saved 7,000 Jewish people in Poland and it is sad that due to the current Ukranian War Russia was not able to attend because for the second year in a row Russia is causing violence against Ukraine. In an BBC News article written by Adam Easton in Warsaw & Jasmine Andersson in London they share, "For the first time a Russian delegation was not invited to a ceremony marking the liberation of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp in modern-day Poland.Russia is usually represented at the event, as the camp in occupied Poland was liberated by the Soviet Army. But this year, following Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum declined to invite Russian officials and its director likened the Ukraine war to the horrors of the Holocaust." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64429625

Our Canadian Government acknowledges, "On January 27, 1945, the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp – where more than one million people were sent to gas chambers and to their agonizing deaths during the Holocaust – was liberated. In 2005, that day was designated as the annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Each year, Canadians and individuals all over the world take this opportunity to remember the victims of the atrocities of the Holocaust and reflect on the dangers of anti-Semitism.  In 2015, Canada and the international community marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. The Government of Canada commemorated this day at a special ceremony that brought together government officials, religious leaders and Holocaust survivors." https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/canada-holocaust/international-remembrance-day.html

We purchased a book because Anne Frank was mentioned: 




On this page you can look up names of survivors and we found three with Barron's last name and one with mine: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-survivors


It is important that we remember what happened in the last war so this does not happen in the current war. Some events in Ukraine thus far:

February - Russian forces march into Ukraine from the north, in an attempt to gain control of Kyiv and with the intention of overthrowing the Ukrainian government. Contrary to the expectations of many people, Ukrainian resistance stops Russia. Russian troops also face logistical challenges, according to an assessment by several non-Russian analysts. 

March - Russian forces move into Ukraine from the South and take control of Kherson. The goal is to gain control of Russia's Black Sea Coast, and to make Ukraine a land-locked nation. Kherson became the first and only regional capital to be captured by Russian forces. 

April - Russia begins an offensive to take control of Donetsk and Luhansk, two territories which have witnessed conflict since 2014. The majority of people in these provinces are Russian by ethnicity and Moscow believes they want to be with Russia. As a part of the new offensive, Russia launches a missile strike on Ukrainian infrastructure, which leads to 50 civilians dying, as a result of a strike on a train station in Kramatorsk. 

May - Russian forces start an operation to take control of Mariupol. Mariupol suffers heavy artillery bombing, resulting in the death of numerous civilians. After heavy urban warfare in the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works Plant, Ukrainian fighters surrender to Russian forces.

June - Ukrainian forces regain control of Snake Island, which is a tiny island in the Black Sea, near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa. Odessa is an important industrial hub as it supplies neon gas to numerous countries, which is essential in semiconductor manufacturing. After recapturing Snake Island, the morale of the Ukrainians goes up. 

July - Russia starts heavy artillery bombardment, targeting eastern Ukraine. Lysychansk, which was the last city in Luhansk under the control of Ukrainians, finally falls to Russia. Moscow attempts to gain control of Donbas but makes little progress. 

August - Ukraine finally launches its much-awaited counter-offensive. The counter-offensive was expected to be directed towards Kherson, which is in southern Ukraine, but Ukrainian forces launched a surprise counter-offensive in northeastern Ukraine, towards the Kharkiv region. Russian forces are caught by surprise and they start pulling back without putting up a fight. 

September - The surprise Ukrainian counter-offensive directed towards Kharkiv succeeds. Ukrainian forces recapture major chunks of the Kharkiv oblast, including the strategically important city of Izium, which is a key logistics hub. Russians who are following the war, feel a sense of despondency. They begin criticising the Russian military's performance. Russia starts partial mobilisation, to boost the number of soldiers at the front. 

October - After the attack on the Crimean bridge, which connects the Crimean peninsula with the Russian mainland, Russian forces start bombing cities across Ukraine. The goal of the bombardments is to damage Ukraine's critical infrastructure, such as power grids and water storage facilities. Russian forces rely on Iranian Shahed drones, to carry out the strikes, as per the analysis of western intelligence agencies. 

November - Russian forces start retreating from Kherson. General Sergey Shoygu, the Russian defence minister, states in a televised address that protecting the lives of Russian soldiers is important, adding that Kherson is not defensible. As of now, Russian forces are getting into a defensive position, and it is likely that they will remain in a defensive position, at least, until this winter. Some reports in American publications such as the Washington Post claim that the US administration is urging Ukraine to consider negotiation with Russia. 

https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/russia-ukraine-crisis/timeline-of-russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-and-developments-as-war-enters-day-264-articleshow.htm

People take cover as an air-raid siren sounds, near an apartment building damaged by recent shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine February 26, 2022. 

Feb 28 (Reuters) - Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Here is a timeline of Ukraine's fraught relationship with Moscow since it won independence in 1991 and the events that led to the current conflict.

1991: Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine declares independence from Moscow.

2004: Pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich is declared president but allegations of vote-rigging trigger protests, known as the Orange Revolution, forcing a re-run of the vote. Pro-Western former prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, is 

2005: Yushchenko takes power with promises to lead Ukraine out of the Kremlin's orbit, towards NATO and the EU.

2008: NATO promises Ukraine it will one day join the alliance.

2010: Yanukovich wins a presidential election.

2013: Yanukovich's government suspends trade and association talks with the EU and opts to revive economic ties with Moscow, triggering months of mass rallies in Kyiv.

February 2014: Parliament votes to remove Yanukovich after bloodshed in the protests. Within days, armed men seize parliament in the Ukrainian region of Crimea and raise the Russian flag. Moscow later annexes the territory.

April 2014: Pro-Russian separatists in the eastern region of Donbass declare independence. Some 15,000 people have been killed since 2014 in fighting between the separatists and the Ukrainian army, according to the Kyiv government.

2017: An association agreement between Ukraine and the EU opens markets for free trade of goods and services, and visa-free travel to the EU for Ukrainians.

2019: Former comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy is elected president.

Jan. 2021: Zelenskiy appeals to U.S. president Joe Biden to let Ukraine join NATO. In February, his government freezes the assets of opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk, the Kremlin's most prominent ally in Ukraine.

Spring 2021: Russia begins massing troops near Ukraine's borders in what it says are training exercises.

Nov. 2021: Satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies show ongoing buildup of Russian forces near Ukraine with estimates soon surpassing 100,000 troops deployed.

Dec. 17 2021: Russia presents security demands including that NATO pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine from ever joining.

Jan. 24 2022: NATO puts forces on standby and reinforces eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets.

Jan. 26: Washington responds to Russia's security demands, repeating a commitment to NATO's "open-door" policy while offering a "pragmatic evaluation" of Moscow's concerns. Two days later Russia says its demands not addressed.

Feb. 2022: Amid growing Western fears Russia could attack Ukraine, the United States says it will send 3,000 extra troops to NATO members Poland and Romania. Washington and allies say they will not send troops to Ukraine, but warn of severe economic sanctions if Russian President Vladimir Putin takes military action.

Feb. 21: In a TV address, Putin says Ukraine is an integral part of Russian history and has a puppet regime managed by foreign powers. Putin orders what he called peacekeeping forces into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, after recognising them as independent.

Feb. 22: The U.S., Britain and their allies sanction Russian parliament members, banks and other assets in response to Putin's troop order. Germany halts the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project.

Feb. 23: Russian-backed separatist leaders ask Russia for help repelling aggression from the Ukrainian army.

Feb. 24: Putin authorizes "special military operations" in Ukraine. Russian forces begin missile and artillery attacks, striking major Ukrainian cities including Kiev.

Feb. 26: Western allies announce new sanctions, including restrictions on Russia's central bank and expelling key banks off the main global payments system.




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