‘To never forget’

By Sara Neidle & Valeria Orezzi

On 27^th January 1945, Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the biggest Nazi concentration camp. Started by the United Nations in 2005, on 27^th of January, we and the rest of the world commemorate the millions of lives that were lost during the Holocaust.

The current pandemic has taught us (if ever we needed to be taught), the importance of preserving human life. It has reminded us of our shared humanity and the need to work together. We have a responsibility to one another of doing everything possible to take care of each other. During the past year, we have listened to amazing stories of human kindness. From Captain Tom Moore, the 99-year-old war veteran raising money for the NHS to all those unsung heroes who are volunteering to help in the pandemic. We have also witnessed though, some of the most terrifying examples of what hatred can do, from far-right terrorists invading democratic institutions to the persecution of the Uighur Muslims in China.

Now more than ever, we have to remember the consequences that looking away from discrimination can lead to. With anti-Semitism on the rise, now more than ever, we must take responsibility and fight discrimination in everyday life.  As time goes on, fewer holocaust survivors remain to tell us their stories. It can’t be their responsibility alone to keep the memory alive. We must educate younger generations about the horrors of the Holocaust, so it lives on and it is never forgotten.

It is the responsibility of each one of us to never let the world forget and to learn the lessons that the Holocaust has taught us.