The theme for this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day on Wednesday 27th January is ‘Don’t stand by’. At over 3,500 events across the country, hundreds of thousands of people will hear about bystanders, those whose silence and indifference allowed dreadful persecution, and ultimately genocides to take place. And we will honour the rescuers and resisters, people who not only saved individuals, but who took action against bigotry and hatred.
We know that silence and indifference in the face of discrimination and hatred allows persecution to take root, so we want to encourage people to stand up and speak out, in the way many brave souls have in the past.
As well as taking a stand in our own communities here in the UK today, we also need to be mindful of the fact that genocide is continuing in Darfur, where thousands of people have been murdered and millions have been forced to flee to makeshift refugee camps. We all need to reflect on the fact that the path to genocide begins with exclusion and discrimination, and that standing by allows hatred to take hold.
In our film for Holocaust Memorial Day 2016, Susan Pollack, a survivor of the Holocaust, tells for the first time a surprising and unique story of surviving genocide. Please visit dontstandby.hmd.org.uk , share the film using social media, and sign up to our Thunderclap, so that Susan’s story is shared as widely as possible at 1pm on 27 January.
Olivia Marks-Woldman
Chief Executive
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust
London SE1P 5BX
