Holocaust Memorial Day

stickywicket

As a christian I don't know what to say about this but I feel it should be commemorated by all. I can't begin to imagine the horrors involved or the ongoing mental strength of those who survived but I send my commiserations to all forum descendants of those who died because of who they were rather than anything they had done.

First 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 for me.
Martin Niemöller

LignumVitae

Religiously I am a nothing much but I too think this needs commemorating by all.
It was an act of incredible inhumanity and sadly, such acts continue to this day, possibly not so calculated in terms of magnitude and process but they are still happening.
It wasn't just religion either that the Nazis targetted, if you were culturally different - Romani gypsies, black, asian - disabled, homosexual, lots of other things that could see you marked out as 'different' that was enough to see you packaged up into the group of 'bad' and 'unworthy' and sent to a concentration camp. We should all now speak out for those people as well as listening to the survivors and their ancestors so we can maybe begin to hope this kind of action, on any scale, ends.

theresak

I`m a Roman Catholic, but agree that we should all commemorate this day. In terms of remembrance of this unspeakable act of inhumanity, I think the baton should be passed on from one generation to the next. What is the alternative? If no-one remembers, no-one will learn.

Having visited Auschwitz/Birkenau a few years ago, I am filled with admiration for anyone who survived, and has somehow found the strength to talk about their experiences. There have been some interesting TV programmes the last few days - I watched Freddy Knoller`s Story on BBC 2 last week, and was amazed at his humour and his spirit.

A lesson to us all.

barbara12

Such an horrible time in history, those poor people , being separated from family and never to see them again..and all the suffering that went on..the film about Bergan Belsen was horrific..my father was with the British army that were the first ones in and all he would say was that we weren't allowed to give them food..because there stomachs wouldn't cope with it..he never mentioned the rest.. lets hope nothing like this ever happens again...

kathleenT

I can't believe there are people who STILL don't believe this awful thing happened. Just how much proof do they need? :shock:

dreamdaisy

Those who protest it never happened are the truly bigoted, intolerant and prejudiced but they will always be with us because humans are flawed and always fail to learn from any version of history, even their own.

The Radio5Live phone-in this morning was on this topic and the first caller was a denier (he must have lied to pass their vetting so no honour involved from the word go). The ranting, venom and vitriol was astonishing, deplorable and horrific - he was cut off within seconds but the taste of the call lingered. All he achieved was to increase the sensibilities of those who called in to say that this ghastly part of human history should never be forgotten and it will not because those who share feelings of humanity outnumber those who don't. DD

applerose

I have been thinking of all those poor people today and cannot imagine how horrific it was and I cannot begin to understand why it happened. As LV said, it is still happening in some countries. It makes me feel as if I am living in the wrong world.

tkachev

They showed images of camps in Bosnia on the BBC in the nineties, and there are now reports of similar camps in North Korea. I don't think people ever learn. If anything they appear to be encouraged by the lack of intervention.

Elizabeth