You might be talking about Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Infamy speech, given just after the pre-emptive attack on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines by the Empire of Japan. The short speech emphasizes on how Japan attacked the United States without first declaring war, and then declaring that the United States is ready to act and do measures for defense.
In order to survive Auschwitz, prisoners did everything possible to survive, and this included celebrating holidays. A reminder to what they had survived in the past gives them hope in the face of adversity and pain.
