Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January, 2005

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Holocaust Memorial Day 27 January, 2005
Survivors Liberation and Rebuilding Lives
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Today we remember the six million Jews who lost
their lives during the second world war, under
the Nazi regime.

• The first Holocaust Memorial Day was held on
  27 January 2001. An indelible date as it was on
  that day in 1945 that the former Nazi
  extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was
  liberated. This was the closest place to humans
  creation of hell. It claimed victims, Jews,
  gypsies, homosexuals, identical twins and others
  deemed to be inferior due to race or genes.
  Whole communities of innocent people were
  transported in travel trucks to their deaths.

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Holocaust Memorial Day

• The 60th anniversary of the liberation of the
  extermination and concentration camps in Germany
  presents a great opportunity to show respect for
  the survivors of Nazi persecution and mass
  murder, and to listen to what they can tell us
  about the best and the worst of human behaviour.

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Survivors, Liberation and Rebuilding Lives

• There are 350,000 survivors of the Holocaust
  alive today...There are 350,000 experts who
  just want to be useful with the remainder of
  their lives. Please listen to the words and the
  echoes and the ghosts. And please teach this in
  your schools.Steven Spielberg, Academy Award
  acceptance speech

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Statement of Commitment

• We recognise that the Holocaust shook the
  foundations of modern civilisation and its
  unprecedented character and horror continues to
  hold universal meaning
• We believe that the Holocaust must have a
  permanent place in our nations collective memory
  and we honour the survivors still with us.
• We reaffirm our shared goals of mutual
  understanding and value the sacrifices of those
  who have risked their lives to protect or rescue
  victims as a permanent reminder of the human
  capacity for good in the face of evil.

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Statement of Commitment

• 4. We will strive to ensure that future
  generations are aware of the Holocaust and other
  acts of genocide, and reflect upon their
  consequences. We vow to remember the victims of
  Nazi persecution and all genocide.
• 5. We recognise the humanity is still scarred by
  the misconception that some peoples lives are
  worth less than others because of their
  disability, ethnicity, gender, religion or
  sexuality. Racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and
  discrimination still persist, and we have a
  shared responsibility to fight these evils.

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Statement of Commitment

• 7 We in Greenwich are proud of our multicultural,
  multi-faith community. We pledge to strengthen
  our efforts to promote education about the
  Holocaust and other acts of genocide. We will do
  our utmost to make sure that the lessons learnt
  from these events are fully understood.
• 8 We in Greenwich condemn the evils of prejudice,
  discrimination and racism, and value the right
  for all to live in a free, tolerant and
  democratic society

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Dr Robert O Fisch, is a Holocaust survivor, born
in Hungary. He has written about his experience
of life in a concentration camp
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His book is called Light from the Yellow StarA
Lesson of Love from the HolocaustOur act of
remembrance is inspired by his work
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His book is a visual reflection on the sayings
found on the tombstones at Yizkor Cemetery, in
Budapest, Hungary where his father who did not
survive the Holocaust is buried. We have
rearranged the order of the sayings
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After all this, should not the world tremble and
every person mourn?
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These words are their flowers- They were killed
by hatred their memory is kept alive in love

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Reading by 3 pupils from Morden Mount School
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(No Transcript)
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I heard the news I trembled and became
speechless.
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I cried out against the brutality, but no one
listened.
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(No Transcript)
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Outside, we were destroyed by weapons inside,
by terror.
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How the heroes were falling
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Death rushed through our windows.
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The songs of the sanctuaries turned into screams
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Oh, God, in my sorrow, I turn to thee.
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Behold my misery and save me.
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And the whole country mourned-families and
individuals
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Because of them, our eyes are full.
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(No Transcript)
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Even the stones weep.
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Like dawn in the darkness, Thy light arises.
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Those martyrs live
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Janusch Korczak

• A man of courage

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Stone Laying Act of Remembrance

• We hold these stones in memory of every single
  person who perished as a result of inhuman brutal
  acts. We come together to stand up to injustice
  and acts against humanity

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We place these stones as a sign of our

• determination to counter anger and hatred
  wherever we find it
• in our selves and others

• 2. desire to establish a world marked by
  compassion, harmony, empathy and peace

We lay these stones down as our sign of
remembrance so as not to forget.
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I candle represents 1 million people who lost
their lives. Let us remember today, the 6 million
innocent Jewish victims, and others who have lost
their lives in more recent genocides as we light
these candles
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'There are stars whose radiance is visible on
earth though they have long been extinct. There
are people whose brilliance continues to light
the world though they are no longer among the
living. These lights are particularly bright
when the night is dark. They light the way for us
all.'

• Hannah Senesh

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Never Again

• Let us work together to ensure that this horrible
  history of brutal inhuman acts which resulted in
  the organized mass killing of innocent people
  never happens again