65 years

[Guest Bilo]

Since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Holocaust Memorial Day.

Holocaust Memorial Day seems to pass every year without a mention, which is sad considering it remembers the victims of not only the Holocaust but those of the Cambodian Killing Fields, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, Rwanda and the ONGOING genocide in Darfur as well as other lesser known genocides and bloody conflicts. It remembers victims of mass killings from three continents, multiple religions and from a timespan of over 70 years. It also aims to remind us that genocides are not just a bloody footnote in history books but are continuing now and will do in the future if prejudices are left unchecked.

I haven't bought a paper but I know I'd be hard-pressed to find any mention of this event today. Seems wrong somehow.

Thoughts?

[ozleicester]

You do realise that "brangelina" is still possibly off????

but seriously, it is terrible that days lke these pass without appropriate recognition, not to mention wars in which people are being killed almost hourly and still it barely rates a mention.

My thoughts go out to anyone affected by these and all tradegies.

[Webbo]

What do these days actually achieve though? I think it's a given that 99.9% would think that mass murder on an industrial scale is a bad thing, and if you don't then a memorial day isn't going to change your mind.

Are we supposed to be more sad about holocausts today than we were yesterday or will be tomorrow?

I could pretend to be heart broken about it all but tbh I've got my own problems that bother me far more.

[Finnegan]

What do these days actually achieve though? I think it's a given that 99.9% would think that mass murder on an industrial scale is a bad thing, and if you don't then a memorial day isn't going to change your mind.

Are we supposed to be more sad about holocausts today than we were yesterday or will be tomorrow?

I could pretend to be heart broken about it all but tbh I've got my own problems that bother me far more.

The idea's just to encourage a little bit of remembrance and recognition, I would imagine. I'm not really sure why that's such a terrible thing.

It's alright, being a fairly well informed person from an older generation but the longer time moves on the more likely things are to drift into obsolete history. There's already plenty of apathy in my generation it would be sad to see it block out the horrors of history all together.

Every year we remember those British servicemen who died in spectacular style with nation-wide silence, a huge charity appeal and remembrance services. Would it be too much to ask to more globally remind people, once a year, about not just the holocaust but other international, humanitarian travesties that go oft' overlooked?

[davieG]

Since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Holocaust Memorial Day.

Holocaust Memorial Day seems to pass every year without a mention, which is sad considering it remembers the victims of not only the Holocaust but those of the Cambodian Killing Fields, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, Rwanda and the ONGOING genocide in Darfur as well as other lesser known genocides and bloody conflicts. It remembers victims of mass killings from three continents, multiple religions and from a timespan of over 70 years. It also aims to remind us that genocides are not just a bloody footnote in history books but are continuing now and will do in the future if prejudices are left unchecked.

I haven't bought a paper but I know I'd be hard-pressed to find any mention of this event today. Seems wrong somehow.

Thoughts?

If Jordon was to 'front' it there would be coverage everywhere - sadly those are the times we live in.

[Webbo]

The idea's just to encourage a little bit of remembrance and recognition, I would imagine. I'm not really sure why that's such a terrible thing.

I never said it was a terrible thing.

[Guest Bilo]

If Jordan was to 'front' it there would be coverage everywhere - sadly those are the times we live in.

You're right sadly.

If you want to find out whose cock Jordan is sitting on this week you'll be spoiled for choice for source material, same with other ****** from Big Brother and the X Factor. I have to give the Metro credit today though, to my great surprise they did have a double page spread recounting the story of British POWs in Auschwitz who were witness to some of the horrors at the camp.

Finnegan's comparison to, for example, Remembrance Day is spot on. You'd have to be living in a cave for November 11 to pass you by as that event is given the respect and attention it deserves. It seems as though we as a society have all but forgotten that it isn't just soldiers who are killed in a time of war. Perhaps if this event was commemorated like Remembrance Day we could start to redress this.

[Guest Bilo]

The idea's just to encourage a little bit of remembrance and recognition, I would imagine. I'm not really sure why that's such a terrible thing.

It's alright, being a fairly well informed person from an older generation but the longer time moves on the more likely things are to drift into obsolete history. There's already plenty of apathy in my generation it would be sad to see it block out the horrors of history all together.

Every year we remember those British servicemen who died in spectacular style with nation-wide silence, a huge charity appeal and remembrance services. Would it be too much to ask to more globally remind people, once a year, about not just the holocaust but other international, humanitarian travesties that go oft' overlooked?

As the old phrase goes, He who does not learn history is doomed to repeat it. If Holocaust Memorial Day received half the attention, I doubt people would be half as ignorant of man's inhumanity to man.

[Bellend Sebastian]

I don't think there's any harm in being reminded of man's inhumanity towards his fellow man from time to time, but it's difficult to know where to draw the line.

If we consciously commemorate the holocaust, should we ignore the millions that died in China under Japanese occupation or the 12 million or so that perished when Germany invaded the Soviet Union? Three million in Congo's civil war? The sad fact of it all is you could remember a human tragedy every day of the year if you were of a mind to, and if you get selective about which ones you focus on then they take on disproportionate importance whilst the rest get ignored. Rather than commemorate individual events I personally think it makes sense to remember things in a bit more a general way, like with Remembrance Day, where you remember those who have fallen in battle, and not any battle in particular

[Zingari]

I don't think there's any harm in being reminded of man's inhumanity towards his fellow man from time to time, but it's difficult to know where to draw the line.

If we consciously commemorate the holocaust, should we ignore the millions that died in China under Japanese occupation or the 12 million or so that perished when Germany invaded the Soviet Union? Three million in Congo's civil war? The sad fact of it all is you could remember a human tragedy every day of the year if you were of a mind to, and if you get selective about which ones you focus on then they take on disproportionate importance whilst the rest get ignored. Rather than commemorate individual events I personally think it makes sense to remember things in a bit more a general way, like with Remembrance Day, where you remember those who have fallen in battle, and not any battle in particular

i was undecided but , that makes so much sense

[Guest Bilo]

I don't think there's any harm in being reminded of man's inhumanity towards his fellow man from time to time, but it's difficult to know where to draw the line.

If we consciously commemorate the holocaust, should we ignore the millions that died in China under Japanese occupation or the 12 million or so that perished when Germany invaded the Soviet Union? Three million in Congo's civil war? The sad fact of it all is you could remember a human tragedy every day of the year if you were of a mind to, and if you get selective about which ones you focus on then they take on disproportionate importance whilst the rest get ignored. Rather than commemorate individual events I personally think it makes sense to remember things in a bit more a general way, like with Remembrance Day, where you remember those who have fallen in battle, and not any battle in particular

There's no need to 'draw the line'.

As I said, the name Holocaust Memorial Day is a bit misleading because it suggests that only the Holocaust is remembered. I think the reason the Holocaust is the flag-bearer (for want of a better word) is it because it was a genocide committed not by a chaotic, third world banana republic in a bloody civil war but by a regime democratically elected by a sophisticated, educated people in a wealthy European nation. The fact that it was run largely for profit is another factor. Therefore it was seen to encapsulate all that's wrong with human nature. Nevertheless, the Holocaust isn't the only genocide remembered by the trust as you'll see on their website.

They extend it to several specific genocides but I personally would extend it to ALL victims of genocide.

In that sense, HMD would become like Remembrance Day in that a day originally conceived to remember the fallen soldiers of one conflict comes to be a means to remember the fallen of all conflicts since. The fact that November 11th was the last day of WW1 doesn't mean that remembrance of that date only remembers WW1, just as January 27th doesn't mean we're remembering the people who died at Auschwitz any more than other victims of genocide.

[Ultra]

Holocaust Day marked at Auschwitz

There's also an HMD site which gives details of local events. A memorial meeting is taking place tonight at Leicester Uni, which several leading civic dignatories (and I) will be attending.

[Guest Bilo]

Holocaust Day marked at Auschwitz

There's also an HMD site which gives details of local events. A memorial meeting is taking place tonight at Leicester Uni, which several leading civic dignatories (and I) will be attending.

Fair play to the Israeli government for not bowing down to racists themselves.

There has been some controversy surrounding the presence in Mr Netanyahu's delegation of Israeli Arab MP Mohammed Barakeh, who has firmly criticised Israeli policy towards the Palestinians.

Right-wing Israeli MPs said he should be barred, fearing he would use the visit to criticise Israel. While some Palestinians said he should not be showing sympathy for Israel.

But Mr Barakeh said: "I came to hear the cries of those who have disappeared in Auschwitz."

"I don't understand the criticism," he said.

"I have fought against racism all my life. The Holocaust is the most tragic drama of modern history."

[Ford Super Sunday]

Don't know how many people have, but I went to Auschwitz in 2008 with my college as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust.

An experience i'll never forget, some of the things that I saw personally were shocking, the girl I went with even wept at one point, that's how emotional it was. It felt weird being in a place where so many people died, and so many suffered, especially in the original bunks of the Birkenau camp.

You really do get an experience of how amazingly vast the place is in reality.

[Steven]

As the old phrase goes, He who does not learn history is doomed to repeat it. If Holocaust Memorial Day received half the attention, I doubt people would be half as ignorant of man's inhumanity to man.

Like the Israelis and their near neighbours?

[Zingari]

He who does not learn history is doomed to repeat it

( some wise bloke with a beard and glasses )

history is written by the victors, history is full of liars

( some other wise bloke with a beard and glasses and leather patches on his sleeve )

bit of a problem here Susan , which one of these wise sayings is the wisest ?

[Guest Bilo]

Like the Israelis and their near neighbours?

What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is wrong but to infer that it's no different to what the Nazis did to the Jews in WW2 is just wrong. Condemning Israel for its treatment of those living in Gaza is perfectly legitimate and understandable but this moral relativism is stretching a point rather too far. There aren't vast gas chambers, Arabs worked to death in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and state sanctioned boycotts of Arab owned businesses. There are Arabs in the Israeli Knesset, some like Mohammed Barakeh (mentioned above) are openly and strongly critical of the way Israel conducts itself towards Palestine and its people.

I always worry about the implications behind such statements as well, have 'The Jews' nullified any sympathy they might have had because of Israel's policies towards Palestine? Does it mean that the world and the Jews are now equal and if so, does it mean that the Jews have no right to ask for the Holocaust to be remembered because of Israel's faults? I'm not suggesting for a second that that is your view because you're clearly an intelligent guy, but it's one that's not uncommon sadly.