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Holocaust Memorial Day 2007

Muslims, Jews and Christians mark Holocaust Memorial Day

27 Jan 07 – Holocaust Memorial Day 2007 was marked at the UK Holocaust Centre, with a commemorative event on 25 January. The event was attended by Holocaust survivors, dignitaries and schoolchildren, by Muslims, Christians and Jews. Keynote speaker, Shahid Malik MP, called for people everywhere to unite against extremism – and attacked the Muslim Council of Britain’s boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day.

“Holocaust Memorial Day remembers the past, but it’s not only an act of remembrance. It’s a call to action,” stated Dr Stephen Smith, Chairman of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and co-founder of the Centre and the Aegis Trust, opening the event. “The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2007 is ‘Same. But Different.’ It alerts us to the situation around us. If the Holocaust could happen to the Jews in Germany, it can, will and does happen to others elsewhere.”

He made reference to genocidal events today: “This year we will reflect on the ongoing genocidal violence in Darfur. Three years, with little or no serious intervention. And we say ‘Never Again’? Holocaust Memorial Day is not only act of remembrance, but a reminder that Auschwitz is possible anywhere if we do not make it impossible everywhere.”

‘We are all part of the human family’

Shahid Malik, MP for Dewsbury, gave the keynote speech, calling for people everywhere to unite in the fight against extremism. “We are all part of one family, the human family. If a wrong is committed against any of us, it’s the responsibility of all of us to speak out. Difference in this country is something we’re good at celebrating, and we should celebrate it more, but we should also celebrate commonality.”

He took the opportunity to attack what he described as the Muslim Council of Britain’s ‘flawed form of moral leadership'.“I feel terribly let down by the MCB, who have decided they won’t commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day,” he stated. “They don’t speak for me or for any of the Muslims in this room.” He expressed optimism, however: “There’s a debate raging in the MCB, and I’m hopeful the old guard will give way to some of the new thinkers.”

Malik also took on the deniers of the Holocaust: “I want to say to Ahmedinejad [President of Iran] how repulsed and sickened I was by the conference he held recently in Iran, a conference of Holocaust deniers. He shames Islam with those actions, and I find them profoundly repugnant. Then we have domestic deniers, like Nick Griffin. We have to give this message out: Why would you deny? What is your objective? The BNP put down a wreath on Remembrance Day, but those people gave their lives fighting people like the BNP.”

‘Those who deny history intend to repeat it.’

After the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust film and music performed by Glossopdale Community College, Shahid Malik was followed at the podium by Holocaust survivor Dr Martin Stern, who took up his theme of the dangers of denial:

“We can regard Holocaust denial as a litmus test of racism – and denial of other genocides likewise. I am not a Muslim, but the disappearance of Islam would be a tragedy for the world, as was the disappearance of East European Jewish life,” he stated.

“All of us are potential perpetrators. If we are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem. We can all help, even if in a small way. What sort of person am I, if I am not concerned for the Muslims of Darfur?

“We all know Santayana’s phrase, ‘He who does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it.’ I would postulate something else; that those who deny history intend to repeat it.”

‘What if that were me?’
Children’s author Jennie Walters, whose latest book, ‘Shelter from the Storm,’ features a story of the Kindertransport character and will be published in February, then presented the prizes for the Holocaust Centre’s Creative Writing Competition – which saw hundreds of entries by schoolchildren on the theme of Holocaust Memorial Day 2007, ‘The Dignity of Difference’.

“I was very interested to see how the writers approached this,” she said. “There were some very rational and cogent pieces, some very imaginative, and some took the form of poetry. What I found most resonant was the work of those who put themselves in the shoes of the victims and asked, ‘What if that were me?’

“Education isn’t just about ticking multiple choice boxes but also about listening to people who have been through extraordinary times and to say ‘No, I don’t know exactly what you’re feeling, but perhaps I can feel just a little of it’.”

Following a poetry reading by Centre co-founder, Mrs Marina Smith, survivors and schoolchildren lit candles in memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Nazi ‘Final Solution’.

For general information about Holocaust Memorial Day, you can visit the official site: www.hmd.org.uk

Holocaust Memorial Day 2006

In January 2006, we were privileged to welcome Sister Renate Seebass at our Holocaust Memorial Day event. Sister Renate was honoured as Righteous Among the Nations by Israel’s Yad Vashem for her family’s actions to help two Jewish concentration camp escapees to survive the Holocaust.

Other distinguished speakers included Dr. Carol Rittner, Distinguished
Professor of Holocaust & Genocide Studies at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Nicole David, who survived the Holocaust as a hidden child in Belgium, and Beatha Uwazaninka-Smith, a Rwandan genocide survivor who was rescued by a Muslim family.

Live webcast of commemoration on 27th January 2006.

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