Dozens of heads of state to attend World Holocaust Forum

Nov. 20 (UPI) -- More than two dozen heads of state plan to attend the fifth World Holocaust Forum in January, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin announced Wednesday.

The event is scheduled to take place Jan. 23 at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, in Jerusalem. Among those in attendance will be French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen.

"In a few weeks I will be joined by heads of states and world leaders, who were invited by the European-Jewish Congress and Yad Vashem to be with me in Jerusalem, to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau," Rivlin said.

"We will come together to think about how to pass on Holocaust remembrance to generations who will live in a world without survivors, and what steps we must take to ensure the safety and security of Jews all around the world."

The 2020 event will be titled "Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Anti-Semitism."

"The event takes place against the background of the rise in hateful and violent expressions of antisemitism, especially in Europe," the World Holocaust Forum Foundation said in a statement announcing the leaders' attendance. "Given this alarming situation, efforts to educate about the dangers of antisemitism, racism and xenophobia and foster Holocaust commemoration and research have made this event more crucial and relevant than ever."