National Holocaust Memorial Day, UK

[TheFifthElement]

Today, January 27th, is National Holocaust Memorial Day in UK. Holocaust Memorial Day provides us with a time to:

Remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and those affected by subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and during the ongoing atrocities in Darfur.

- ensure that the historical events associated with the Holocaust continue to be regarded as being of fundamental importance.

- raise awareness and understanding of the events of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides as a continuing issue for all humanity, based on a recognition that it could happen again anywhere and at any time, unless we ensure that our society opposes discrimination, persecution and racism.

- highlight the values of a society which respects and celebrates the differences between individuals and communities, based upon the notion of universal dignity and equal rights and responsibilities for all its citizens.


A Legacy of Hope
The theme of this year's HMD is a Legacy of Hope. The full theme statement is available via the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust's website but, in summary, it amounts to this:

Our responsibility is to remember those who were persecuted and murdered, because their lives were wasted. Our challenge is to make the experience and words of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides a meaningful part of our future.

You can read more about the purpose of Holocaust Memorial Day, and the genocides we are asked to remember, here: http://www.hmd.org.uk

May they never be forgotten.


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[JuniperWoolf]

I'll be reading Maus later today.

[Virgil]

Great thought Fifth. I went searching for a US version of this, and for us it's April 11th, which seems to correspond to Israel's day for the halocaust, though their's is linked to the Jewish calendar and therefore varies every year.

My little tribute will be that final scene from Schindler's List. This scene grabs me by the throat and the heart simultaneously like no scene in movie history. I can't tell you enough how this scene effects me.

http://www.youtube.com/user/virgil015#p/f/11/lPHvLtitxug

[Michael T]

Yes, nice thought to mention it here on Lit-Net TheFifthElement, and I agree about the moving scene in 'Schindler’s List' Virgil…it’s that feeling of empathy that makes a good Human-Being! :)

It’s a shame though, that the fact that it was National Holocaust Day got so little a mention – if any – on the TV, Radio or National and Local Newspapers, or in schools for that matter!

[wessexgirl]

Yes, nice thought to mention it here on Lit-Net TheFifthElement, and I agree about the moving scene in 'Schindler’s List' Virgil…it’s that feeling of empathy that makes a good Human-Being! :)

It’s a shame though, that the fact that it was National Holocaust Day got so little a mention – if any – on the TV, Radio or National and Local Newspapers, or in schools for that matter!

I always send for the materials and have a big display in my school library, with lots of relevant books. I keep it up for all of January. But I don't think it's publicized enough.

[OrphanPip]

We have a holocaust museum here in Montreal. I remember when I was in high school a holocaust survivor came to speak to our English class, we were reading some holocaust literature at the time, and it was a profound moment to meet someone who has survived a concentration camp. Seeing one of the number tattoos on a real live arm brings the tragedy of it all to a personal, immediate level and reminds us what a long-lasting scar the holocaust produced, it stops it from just being numbers in a text book.

[DanielBenoit]

May we never let this happen again, and may we help and assisst those suffering from the same persicution. I must say that even though I'm not Jewish, I for some reason have a deep personal feeling about the Holocoust and as a result have read and seen many literature and film concerning it. Maybe this personal relevance stems from the fact that we are all human beings and all are deeply effected by phenomenas like this. Yes, genocide is a phenomena because it is only possible collectively and with a collective hate. It still boggles the mind how things like this happen.

I'm very glad that that great piece of cinema Schindler's List was mentioned, though it's so well-known that it is about impossible to not mention it when discussing the Holocaust. Thank you Virgil for posting that scene, it never fails to shake me and bring me to tears. One of the few times in cinema that I have felt a sort of transendence.

Btw, if anybody wants to see an even more devastating and yet powerful film than Schindler's List, I highly reccomend the Polish documentary Shoah, which concerns its director Claude Lanzmann setting out on a mission to make a complete historical document of the atrocities that occured. He interviews survivors, Jews who were forced to send their fellow friends into the gas chambers, as well as bystanders (i.e. non-prisoners who remember the times) and even at a couple times real former members of the Nazi party (who in fact had to be interviewed with a hidden camera and mic). Yes it is over nine hours long and is shot unlike a traditional documentary (instead of reenactment or historical footage, Lanzmann just shoots long melancholy shots of the desolate, but haunted modern landscape of places like Autshwitz among others. Sorry for writing a whole damn review, but this is not just a movie, but a historical experience, no matter how utterly devastating, of the dark abyss of human nature in one of the darkest times of modern history.

[OrphanPip]

According to the evening news today, it is Holocaust memorial day in Canada as well. It is also the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I suppose this is the reason for this date being chosen.

[TheFifthElement]

According to the evening news today, it is Holocaust memorial day in Canada as well. It is also the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I suppose this is the reason for this date being chosen.

That's right OrphanPip. 27th January is the date that Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets.


It’s a shame though, that the fact that it was National Holocaust Day got so little a mention – if any – on the TV, Radio or National and Local Newspapers, or in schools for that matter!

I agree Michael, I only found out because I caught a glimpse of a headline on a newspaper someone was reading on the train. Otherwise it's gone fairly unnoticed, which defeats the object if the idea is for us to remember victims of genocide. Though it is a fairly new thing, perhaps it will become more widely spread as it cements into the national calendar.


Yes, genocide is a phenomena because it is only possible collectively and with a collective hate. It still boggles the mind how things like this happen.

Indeed it does Daniel. Last night I was reading about the genocide in Rwanda (which is also commemorated in UK on National Holocaust Day, as it the genocide in Cambodia, Bosnia, ongoing genocide on Darfur, and of course the Jewish and non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust) and I was shocked to tears by it all. Although it had been reported in the news, the sheer violent enormity of it all hadn't previously been apparent to me. These things didn't even happen that long ago, and they still could not be stopped. You can read more about each of the genocides here: http://www.hmd.org.uk/genocides but I warn you, it is upsetting reading.



My little tribute will be that final scene from Schindler's List. This scene grabs me by the throat and the heart simultaneously like no scene in movie history. I can't tell you enough how this scene effects me.
I'm so glad you mentioned Schindler's List, Virgil. It is an amazing, terrifying movie. A movie everyone should see.