Prince: ‘The task of bearing witness falls to us’
THE PRINCE of Wales stressed the importance of bearing witness to Shoah atrocities as the number of survivors dwindles when he spoke at Wednesday night’s national commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, broadcast online.
He warned of the “reckless assaults on the truth and the deeply worrying growth of fake news and of irrational theories, not grounded in reality but rooted in dark places of hatred and fear. We have seen reason rejected, objectivity abandoned, history discounted — even the Holocaust denied.
“As I speak, the last generation of living witnesses is tragically passing from this world, so the task of bearing witness falls to us.
“That is why the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, of which I am so proud to be patron, has this year chosen the theme ‘Be the Light in the Darkness’.”
Boris Johnson, Sir Keir Starmer and Nicola Sturgeon took turns in reading lines from Sylvan Kamens’ and Rabbi Jack Riemer’s poem, We Remember Them.
Kindertransport refugee Ernest Simon recited El Male Rachamim in memory of victims and shared his testimony, as did Renee Bornstein and Rachel Levy.
TV personalities Tobias Menzies, Robert Rinder and Bear Grylls delivered readings about the Holocaust and frontline workers and schoolchildren also made short contributions to the event.
In his message, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said that while many had failed to speak up during the Holocaust, “there were glimmers of life” and “extraordinary people” who risked their lives to save Jews.
The last generation of living witnesses is passing’
“There were also glimmers of light during the subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Darkness can only endure where we fail to shine a light, as can be tragically seen around the globe right now.
“The post-Covid era will bring with it upheaval, creating conditions which can precipitate dangerous waves of persecution,” he added.
Hosting the ceremony, BBC presenter Naga Munchetty warned against complacency given the fragility of democracies, “from the online conspiracy theories spreading misinformation to the recent events of violence in the United States.
“Because in our time of recent history that we can almost touch, six million people were murdered simply for being Jewish”.
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman said the pandemic had brought “isolation and loss to so many” and it was being used to “foster division and increase hostility”.
In contrast, thousands across the nation had marked HMD. “In joining us now, you are united with people across the UK, together in spirit and in commitment to learning from genocides in the past and standing against prejudice and persecution today.”