Holocaust Memorial Day

I have just been participating in the marking of Holocaust Memorial Day at Brent Town Hall. It was done really well. After the welcomes, local school children lit memorial candles (one managed to drop the taper onto the table cloth which raised a smile in this solemn moment, fortunately the cloth didn't catch fire) and then members of Brent Youth Council read poems including "It's going to rain" by Valdemar Kalnin and "One person can make a difference" by Gwyneth Lewis. The latter made a particular impact on me and I have attached it at the end of this piece.

A presentation in film and music was made by students from Preston Manor School. Two weeks of intensive workshops had allowed them to research film and image archives, creating from it a silent film which they accompanied by playing specially composed music. It was very powerful and focused on images of Jewish children in Europe during the 2nd world war having fun and then moving to the concentration camps. A number of quotes were shown during this item and one which hit home for me was:
"In the end we will not remember the voices of our enemies but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King.

We heard the stories of two survivors. One woman spoke of the life of a Holocaust survivor who she knew and then Jean Louis Mazimpka shared his experiences as a Rwandan Survivor. The leaders of the three main parties in Brent came together to make the Holocaust memorial day statement of commitment (http://www.hmd.org.uk/about/statement_of_commitment/) which is being used at such events across Britain. The event was drawn to a close by Rev Anthony Wolfson, chazzan of Wembley United Synagogue who sang a memorial prayer in Hebrew and then spoke it in English. Very moving.

I have found myself reflecting a lot this year on what happens when we try to de-humanise groups of people and treat them somehow as "other", as something less than ourselves, not part of God's family with us. Throughout the event today we were reminded that the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2008 is "Imagine, remember, reflect, react", challenging us to imagine the unimaginable by focusing on the lives and experiences of victims and survivors of the Holocaust, of Nazi persecution and of other genocides. By doing this we seek to remember the past, reflect on the present and react to create a better future. Amen to that.

One Person Can Make a Difference

The fight for justice starts and ends with me.
Truth is the sound of what I may say.
I can only be well when others are free
And right has a price I’m prepared to pay.

I refuse to be afraid
Of force or hatred.
I will pull their lies like weeds,
Plant gardens of more generous seeds.

If I turn my back and walk away
Who’ll ask for others what I want for me?
I can only be well when others are free
And right has a price I’m prepared to pay.

Gwyneth Lewis