Tomorrow is will be a bittersweet day for many. Monday marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the most notorious of all of the Nazis' concentration camps in which Hitler tried to exterminate the Jews, Gypsies and countless others. Shlomo Shamir of Ha'aretz writes on how the world community will mark the day.

"The evil that destroyed six million Jews and others in those camps is one that still threatens all of us today." This statement by Kofi Annan at a press conference at the weekend is the main message of Monday's special session of the General Assembly commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp at [Auschwitz].

"The global community must ensure that such horror never occurs again," Annan said.

The special all-day session, defined on Sunday as a historic event, will be attended by the representatives of 30 senior UN members and leading intellectuals.

The event has been meticulously planned to ensure the international community would rally around it and be fully represented at the session.

Among the participants will be the foreign ministers of European countries, including German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and the foreign minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn. Luxembourg is now serving as president of the European Union. The foreign ministers of France, Canada, Argentina and others have also announced their participation.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom will represent Israel, while U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will represent the United States.

Among the speakers will also be Congressman Tom Lantos, who is a Holocaust survivor, as well as Nobel Peace Prize winner Eli Weisel.

The climax of the session is expected to be a cantor chanting the Hebrew prayer mourning prayer "El malei rachamim." This will be the first time a Jewish prayer has been uttered in the General Assembly. The cantor will also sing Israel's national anthem, "Hatikvah."

I'm finding it difficult to opine on this subject. It's not often that I am at a loss of words, but this is one such instance.

It is important to remember never to forget. Hopefully Monday's event will help all of us do just that: remember.

If I can pass on just one item to you, it would be this: Luba: The Angel of Bergen-Belsen by Michelle McCann, a non-fiction book for children that carefully and deftly deals with the Holocaust. Due to issues of disclosure, I must inform you that the subject of this book, Luba Tryszynska-Frederick, is a cousin of mine and my family played a role in the book's production (though no immediate family member benefits from sale of the books).

Here is a review from Amazon.com:

From Publishers Weekly

A Holocaust heroine emerges in Tryszynska-Frederick's account of being a prisoner at Bergen-Belsen, which McCann judiciously relays in the third person. A Polish Jew, Luba had endured two years in Auschwitz, where her infant son had been taken from her upon arrival; believing that Luba was a nurse, the Nazis sent her to Bergen-Belsen in the winter of 1944 to look after their wounded. She hears the sounds of crying on her first night there, and discovers 54 Dutch babies and children in a field, left to freeze to death. Determined to save them, she obtains food and clothing for them and, just as amazingly, persuades innumerable adults to keep their presence a secret. When the British liberated the camp, 52 of the children were still alive.

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To get a better idea of this beautifully illustrated tale, visit this section of the Amazon site. I may have a biased opinion of the book, but I truly believe it is a worthwhile read.