Sunday 29 January 2023

I Almost Forgot

 What were you doing on Friday Evening? It was only when I switched on the radio in the afternoon, that I was reminded that it was Holocaust Memorial Day - and that across the world, people would be placing lighted candles in their window to acknowledge and remember all those lost in acts of genocide. I was able to find a candle and place it on my kitchen windowsill.

Holocaust Memorial Day encourages remembrance in a world scarred by genocide. The international day on 27 January to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups, and during more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. 

27 January marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. The Holocaust threatened the fabric of civilisation, and genocide must still be resisted every day. Our world often feels fragile and vulnerable and we cannot be complacent. Even in the UK, prejudice and the language of hatred must be challenged by us all.

I don't know how many people passed my house in the evening, or if any of them noticed the candle, and wondered about it. The theme for this year was "Ordinary People" - 

ordinary people were persecuted, 
Kamal, a survivor from Bosnia says People may think that they have nothing to do with my story. But what happened to me, could happen to them – to people like yourself. It may sound too hard to believe but this doesn’t happen to strangers who live far away. I’m just an ordinary person. These terrible things can happen to people like us.

ordinary people were the perpetrators,
Jean-Louis, a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda spoke about the involvement of those he knew in the killing - When the killing started, to be honest, everyone was involved. Our neighbours, friends, but we didn’t know the killings were to the extent of what happened.

and ordinary people were the rescuers.
at the start of WW2 Nicholas Winton was a young stockbroker, who enabled 669 children to escape from Czechoslovakia. He said afterwards Why are you making such a big deal out of it? I just helped a little; I was in the right place at the right time.

and sadly, so often, ordinary people have been bystanders
Forgive us, Lord, that we have so easily forgotten. Help us Lord, to work for peace for all peoples. Teach us to love our neighbours . For every 'ordinary' person is your child, and all life is precious.


The King made a statement on Friday [in full here] including these words
In learning from the horrors of the Holocaust and the genocides which followed, we can all recommit to the vital principles of freedom of conscience, generosity of spirit, and care for others that are the surest defences of hope.
Amen to that.

16 comments:

  1. It's been such a hard watch at times, but I have learnt more about the Holocaust over the past few days than over the past few years. To learn that so many Jewish people were murdered by non-Nazis and indeed by their neighbours was heart-breaking.

    Sadly I know a lot more about the Rwandan genocide, as it the time it happened I managed an Oxfam shop and we had to react quickly to the news to help raise funds to help the survivors.

    Mankind is cruel to both animals and it's own.

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  2. I went to a local Church for a Holocaust Memorial Service on Friday. It was very well attended. I am in the Salvation Army - some of the Ukrainians who use our hall spoke - very moving..

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  3. A poem by Pastor Martin Niemöller that really speaks to our need to be there for others:
    First they came for the Communists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Communist
    Then they came for the Socialists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Socialist
    Then they came for the trade unionists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a trade unionist
    Then they came for the Jews
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Jew
    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    To speak out for me

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    1. Thanks Bushlady. A very challenging poem - my father introduced me to this piece many years ago, and I've never forgotten the impact it had on me. Pastor Martin Niemöller was an amazing, brave and faithful man.

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  4. I did not know it was Holocaust Day. So many brave people in horrible circumstances.

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  5. I knew that it was Holocaust Remembrance Day, but, I didn't know about lighting a candle and placing it on a windowsill.

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  6. It's always good to be reminded of these important things - and to remember how fortunate we are to have our freedom.
    Alison in Wales x

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  7. Thank you for reminding me about this. I knew it was last week some time as I know it was an assembly theme at school but I had forgotten when. It's so important to remember or we can't learn from the mistakes of the past. My niece was saying on Saturday that she doesn't really like history and isn't sure why we have to learn it and I was quick to give her lots of reasons why, one of which, the most important was that you cannot understand the present and stop making mistakes if you don't know the past. She seems to think history is just kings and queens but I tried to give her a balanced view.

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    Replies
    1. Well done Kezzie - I'm sure your niece had a great time with you 😊

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  8. Last week, we watched How the Holocaust Began. The historian said that Jews were being systematically murdered all over Europe - well before the Nazis arrived - the Nazis just gave them their excuse. Really shocking footage as well. We lit a candle on Friday which seems a nothing thing really. Just one small candle though - a memory and an acknowledgement when apparently so many are again denying that it happened.

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    1. It is better to light one small candle...

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