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Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, the 80th anniversary of the liberation by the soldiers of the Soviet Army. of over 7,000 prisoners at Auschwitz- Birkenau the largest Nazi death camp in occupied Poland. where ir is estimated 1.1 million people, mostly Jewish died there, including around 70,000 Poles, and 21,000 Roma and Sinti people.
Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out primarily through mass shootings and poison gas in extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Belzec, Sobibor, and Chełmno in occupied Poland.
Separate Nazi persecutions killed a similar or larger number of non-Jewish civilians and prisoners of war (POWs); the term Holocaust is sometimes used to encompass also the persecution of these other groups.
We remember today all the people, murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, all victims of Nazi persecution and we also remember the victims of subsequent genocides.
The genocide of the Jewish people, Roma and other minorities during World War II is a brutal reminder of what can happen in a society overtaken by division, prejudice and hatred, and the fragility of our own humanity, security and safety.Today we remember the victims but also the lesson. Never again must mean never again.
The slogan Never Again symbolised the determination of anti-fascists and the labour movement that after the Holocaust, genocide must never happen again - that no one should be annihilated because of an accident of birth and who they are.
“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.”
Elie went on to write a number of books about his own personal story and that of the Holocaust (also known as 'the Shoah’ in Hebrew) in general, and his works — along with the likes of Primo Levi (author of If This Is A Man) and Anne Frank, whose diary is famous across the world — are some of the most defining stories of that era. They are books I would implore everyone to read, especially as a 2021 study found that over half of Britons did not know that six million Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust, and less than a quarter thought that two million or fewer were killed.
And though it is easy to leave history in the past, events like The Holocaust must be remembered — they must be remembered out of respect for those who lost their lives, for those who overcame the most severe form of persecution and went on to become productive members of the communities in which they settled and for those who are yet to even step foot on this planet. We must, as Elie Wiesel says, “bear witness” to these events, and pass their stories and their lessons onto the next generation, so that we can avoid such horrors happening again.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Holocaust was the greatest crime of the 20th century because of the sheer scale of the premeditated and industrialized murder that occurred.
As we contemplate the monumental nature of this moment, it’s instructive to consider the history of International Holocaust Remembrance Day itself. This annual commemoration was created by the UN in 2005, to take place annually on January 27: the day Aushwitz-Birkenau , was liberated. In its resolution establishing the day, the UN General Assembly made it clear that this observance would not merely be about commemorating the past; it pointedly urged member states “to develop educational programs that will inculcate future generations with the lessons of the Holocaust in order to help to prevent future acts of genocide.”
The GA also made it explicit that this remembrance would not be limited to the European Jewry alone, but should also extend to “countless members of other minorities” who were murdered en masse by the Nazi regime.
From the time they assumed power in 1933, the Nazis used persecution, propoganda, and legislation to deny human rights to so many. Using hate as their foundation. By the end of the Holocaust more than a million inmates, primarily Jews, were brutally and systematically killed in the place where the Nazis introduced the monstrous concept of ‘industrialized murder.’
Among the other victims were non-Jewish Poles, political prisoners, Soviet prisoners of war, Sinti and Roma, homosexuals, Jehovah’s witnesses,Trade Unionists,. half a million mentally and physically disabled, to say nothing of the millions of prisoners of war, Poles, Russians alongside others deemed undesirable who were exterminated by the nazis between 1939 and 1945.We honor their memory and must pledge to defeat antisemitism and all forms of hatred, never again allowing such horrors to occur.
Zionism however drew different conclusions from the Holocaust. As Professor Yehuda Elkana, a child survivor of Auschwitz and the Rector of the Central European University wrote in Ha’aretz, in 'The Need to Forget' in 1988: a profound existential “Angst” fed by a particular interpretation of the lessons of the holocaust … that we are the eternal victim (arose). In this ancient belief… I see the tragic and paradoxical victory of Hitler. Two nations, metaphorically speaking, emerged from the ashes of Auschwitz: a minority who assert, “this must never happen again,” and a frightened and haunted majority who assert, “this must never happen to us again.”
The Holocaust played an important part in the establishment of the State of Israel yet it was because of the Nakba, the expulsion of three-quarters of a million Palestinians from their homeland, that a Jewish State was formed. A series of massacres accompanied the Nakba which were aimed at ‘encouraging’ the flight of the Palestinian refugees.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2025 is arriving just as Israel are literally being judged on the world stage for an ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.The theme for the day is “For a Better Future”. On this pivotal day in 1945, a gleam of light appeared in the darkest place on earth. And, in the years that followed, that light grew brighter as good people around the world worked to try to ensure that the horrors of Auschwitz were never repeated.
The development of international human rights standards, most notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was the product of that global effort.
The Universal Declaration was for a better future. It recognised that “disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind”. And it laid the foundations of a better world “in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want”.
Today, human dignity and fundamental rights are under attack from many quarters. If we want a better future, we will once again have to work for it.
Reflecting on the rise of anti-semitism, hatred and intolerance in our society 80 years after the tragedy of Holocaust, the theme For a Better Future builds on all the things we can do to protect vulnerable communities, come together, learn both from and about the past, and take actions to make sure it is never repeated.
Extremist groups are taking advantage of tensions at this moment in time to incite Islamophobic hatred within the UK. As a result, many communities across the country are experiencing heightened vulnerability, with increasing hostility and mistrust among different groups.
The theme reminds us that genocides never just happen. They begin slowly, with insidious stages such as propaganda, ‘othering’ and dehumanisation, where those who are targeted for persecution have their freedom restricted and removed before many of them are murdered.
Genocide develops in stages that are predictable – but not inevitable. It’s up to us to learn how to identify the warning signs in the world around us and take preventive measures to stop it. As well as learning about the Holocaust and more recent genocides and using reputable resources to do so, there are many more things we can all do to create a better future.
We must speak up against Holocaust and genocide denial and distortion, actively challenge racism, hatred and prejudice wherever we find it and, when witnessing a hate crime, report it to the police and the relevant bodies.
On International Holocaust Memorial Day, we must remember all those who lost their innocent and precious lives in the past.Remember, it didn’t start with gas chambers. It started with politicians dividing the people with ‘us vs. them.’ It started with intolerance and hate speech, and when people stopped caring, became desensitized, and turned a blind eye.
Holocaust Memorial Day is about remembering everyone who is the victim of Genocide: WW2, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur and Gaza etc.
This year’s HMD also marks the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia. The Bosnian genocide took place during the Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995. In July 1995, the small town of Srebrenica saw the massacre of over 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys, along with the forced displacement of an additional 25,000 to 30,000 Bosniak civilians.
HMD is an opportunity to carry forward the legacy of everyone who lost their life to genocide by remembering our common humanity and challenging those who would distort or deny the past, or who discriminate and persecute today.
The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has actually called for the boycott of the 2025 Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations after a state-run charity that holds the event refused to include what is coming to pass against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip in the list of genocides. The London-based organization said in a letter https://www.ihrc.org.uk/letter-re-holocaust-memorial-day-to-councils-and-universities/ to 460 councils and universities across the United Kingdom that the HMD Trust’s move to disregard the Israeli regime’s atrocities in Gaza is in contravention of the charity’s mission, which “makes clear that genocide is not restricted to a particular period of history, geographical area or group of people.”
Underlining that such consideration should remain at the forefront of any remembrance of the Holocaust, the IHRC said, “There is no hierarchy of genocides or suffering and the fact of remembrance is not limited by the background of either the victims or the perpetrators of any of the genocides. Every genocide is unique and all are morally abhorrent.”
Expressing grave concern and great disappointment over the absence of the ongoing genocide in Gaza from the list of genocides mentioned by HMD, the London-based organization said the failure to include it in commemorations would undermine the aim of marking the Holocaust which is purportedly to help prevent further genocides and to put a stop to genocides when they occur.
When the US, UK, and EU said ‘never again’ after the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany, it did not include Palestinians or the people of the global south.
Today I will remember all the victims of genocides. Not just in WW2. Every single genocides. And the most recent one is the ongoing genocide in Gaza perpetrated by the illegal state of Israel on Palestinians.
The Zionists might want you to remember the 6 million Jews that died during the Holocaust but you have to remember roo the 5 million non Jews that died during the Holocaust. 5 millions that the Zionists always conveniently forget to mention. They deny other people of victimhood, just like they deny the genocide they are committing right now.
“Never Again” was always meant to mean never again for all regardless of skin colour, religion or ethnicity.We are all human. We all bleed the same colour, red. When we say 'Never Again', we have to mean it. “Never again” means we must never see the slaughter that we saw during the Holocaust again. We do not cherry pick the victims. Every single murder and death should be remembered no matter the victims or perpetrators. Never again is for everyone. No more genocide.
History begs us not to make the same mistakes. No human deserves death in the name of politics or power. May the lessons of the past help us build a future based on empathy and an unwavering commitment to peace.
As we remember the the Holocaust. that took place 80 years ago. Let’s focus on the current one taking place in Gaza where thousands and thousands of dead women and children are still trapped under the rubble.
Israel is currently violating every international law put in place post WWII as well as the two ceasefires it has agreed to. Israel has massacred countless civilians in Palestine and is killing them in Lebanon too.
Netanyahu' has been invited to the 80th Auschwitz anniversary ceremony, regardless that he has just perpetrated a holocaust in Gaza. Poland has vowed not to arrest him. Shockingly, no Russian official has been invited to the commemoration, even though it was the Soviet Red Army that liberated the death camp.
This year, I will think in particular about the need for a lasting peace in the Middle East after more than 15 devastating months of conflict that have seen so much human suffering. That lasting peace will only be built on a two-state solution - a safe and secure Israel and a safe, secure, free Palestine.
If Holocaust Memorial Day isn’t also a suitable day for highlighting and calling for an end to the abject inhumanity in Gaza and the West Bank caused by the wicked ‘Untermensch’ ideology of the Israeli state and its funders, then I don’t know what is.
And if Western politicians, media and elites silent about the genocide in Gaza, it will devalue the memory of both the Holocaust and the genocide amd will expose the West’s vicious, cruel, moral hypocrisy.
Sources
The number of victims. Auschwitz.org.
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