Holocaust Memorial Day

Hattie Payne

The 27th of January marks Holocaust Memorial Day, chosen on this date to commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1945. On this day we remember and reflect upon the millions of people who lost their lives in this genocide in the hope that such violence and murder will not be seen again. It is dificult to determine exactly how many people were killed during the Holocaust as there is no single document that gives a precise number. As the Nazi reign drew to a close, many documents of the killings were destroyed but it is estimated that over 6 million Jewish people were killed. About 1 million of these murders occurred in Poland at the Auschwitz Birkenau. There were also many other groups targeted by the Nazis. These include people with disabilities, those with Socialist and Communist beliefs, Soviet prisoners of war and members of the LGBTQ+ community amongst many others. As time progresses historians may uncover more documentation but there will never be an accurate count of those murdered in the genocide. Some of our students attended a memorial service held by the Solihull council on the 26th and read poems they had written for a competition. George Vulcan, a Holocaust survivor, spoke during the service, online. He recounted stories of his experiences and hardships and told how his family was split up and many were killed. The students read their poems aloud in the council chambers which impressed all those listening. One of the students who attended described the experience as eye-opening. She said she found it ‘surreal’ listening to the tales of a person who lived through such horrors and found it upsetting that anyone ever had to go through something like this.

The Holocaust was a brutal section of our planet’s history but it is important that each year we recognise the cruelty and ensure that we never repeat such violence and discrimination.