Take ‘One Day’ in memory
By the REV SAMANTHA MARTELL, traditional vicar, Rowner, Bridgemary and Elson
Holocaust Memorial Day, January 27, is one day every year that we put aside to come together to remember and learn about the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
Each year, the day is given a theme, this year it is simply ‘One Day’. We take this day in the hope that there may be one day in the future with no genocide. When we take the time to learn more about the past, we can better empathise with others today, giving us the confidence to take action for a better future.
Prior to 1944, the word genocide didn’t exist. It was coined by Raphael Lemkin as the attempted destruction of a people, usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group.
We are living in an age of increasing ‘cancel culture’, whereby if we disagree with someone’s ideas or behaviour, we lobby to get them fired or blacklisted, or enlist others to campaign against them.
Many believe that by ignoring a situation, pretending it didn’t happen, or actively eliminating it from history, their future will be better. Of course, the opposite is true, and it simply won’t work by sticking our fingers in our ears and pretending that past regimes haven’t tried to eliminate entire races of innocent human beings – made, like us, in the image of God.
We remember the atrocities of a time still within the living memory of some, to ensure that murder on a mass scale doesn’t ever happen again.
Christians don’t experience the joy of Jesus’ resurrection without first remembering the agony of his crucifixion. In the same way, we need to acknowledge the atrocities of our past to build a better future for all.
Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘One Day’. One day to come together, to demonstrate how the lessons of the past can inform our lives today and ensure that everyone works together to create a safer, better future.
Please stand with us in solidarity at
7pm on January 27, at the church of St Thomas the Apostle, Elson, and make
‘One Day’ matter this year.