Let us take a moment to remember those who lost their lives. Each year on this day, across the UK, thousands of people come together to pay homage and take mindful action to create a safer future.
The 27th of January – Holocaust Memorial Day is the day for everyone to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution, and in the genocides followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.
Our world often feels fragile and vulnerable and we cannot be complacent about it. The language of prejudice and hatred must be challenged by us all every single day. Together we bear witness to those who endured genocide and honour the survivors and all those whose lives were changed beyond recognition.
A brief history of Holocaust Memorial Day:
Holocaust Memorial Day marks 76 years since Auschwitz- Birkenau, the largest of the Nazi concentration camps, was liberated by Soviet soldiers in 1945. This day is dedicated to the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered in the Holocaust and all other victims of the Nazis and their collaborators.
The United Nations General assembly designated 27 January as the annual remembrance day of the liberation of Auschwithz-Birkenau. On this day, the UN urges every member state to pay respect and remember the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of Nazism victims and to develop awareness to help prevent future genocides.
Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 Theme: Ordinary people
Nazi persecution or genocides that took place in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, it was ordinary people who were perpetrators, bystanders, rescuers, and witnesses – and ordinary people who were victims of the Holocaust.
The ones who were oppressed and murdered in the genocide were not persecuted because they committed a crime, they very simply abolished because they were ordinary people belonging to a particular group the oppressors had problems with for eg, Roma, Jewish community, Tutsi.
They simply had an aspect of their identity that the perpetrators did not like, and that made them targets for persecution. Even after surviving Holocaust and genocide, survivors live ordinary lives, dealing with the same day-to-day challenges as the rest of the population. They are ordinary people in our communities: supermarket staff, doctors, parents, and teachers. They are among us.
Final words:
We must learn from history that genocide does not just take place on its own, it is a slow and steady process which penetrates right between us in form of discrimination, racism, or hatred and needs a self-reflection check to prevent it.
We are all ordinary people today who can be extraordinary in our actions. We can all make decisions to challenge prejudice, if we choose to stand up against hatred, and speak out against identity-based actions.
References:
Priyanka Joshi is a web content writer and advice & support officer at DUSA.
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