SKOKIE, Ill. – U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today joined Governor Bruce Rauner, representatives from the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, World War II veterans, and Holocaust survivors at a Commemoration Ceremony for the 70th Anniversary of Victory Day hosted by the Chicago Association of Veterans of World War II.
“Today we honor the veterans that saved civilization in World War II,” Senator Kirk said. “These men and women shouldered the burden that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany.”
On May 8, 1945, Nazi military leaders unconditionally surrendered to the Allies, marking the end of World War II in Europe. The Commemoration Ceremony on Friday remembered and honored those who courageously fought to defend liberty and justice for future generations.
As part of the ceremony, Senator Kirk, Governor Rauner, representatives from the Illinois Holocaust Museum, and World War II Veterans placed a wreath on the museum’s Holocaust memorial in Skokie.
In January, Senator Kirk, along with Senators Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), introduced S.Res.35, a bipartisan resolution commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 27th. The resolution, which the Senate adopted unanimously, calls on people of the United States to remember the 1,100,000 innocent victims murdered at the Auschwitz extermination camp, to honor the legacy of all Holocaust survivors, and continue to work toward tolerance, peace, justice, and an end to all genocide and persecution.