A candle lighting ceremony commemorating the victims of the Holocaust during World War II will be held at the Jewish Community Center and in the Great Choral Synagogue in the Russian capital on Thursday.
Commemorative events will also be held in the Kaliningrad Region, Bryansk, Voronezh, Samara and many other Russian cities.
On January 26, 2007, The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the denial of the Holocaust as a historical fact, and declared the 27th of January as a day of commemoration, marking the liberation of the "Auschwitz" Concentration Camp.
Russia is one of the few countries with a considerable Jewish community that have not yet established January 27 as an official commemoration date.
"Taking into consideration the growing interest in this event in Russia, the Russian Jewish Congress [RJC] deems it important to include the Holocaust Remembrance Day in the official list of commemorative dates in Russia," RJC spokesman Mikhail Savin said on Wednesday.
The Russian Jewish Congress is a non-profit charitable fund and the largest secular organization of Russian Jews. It was established in 1996 to revive Jewish traditions in Russia.
MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti)
