Holocaust Memorial Day takes place every year to ensure that the lessons learnt from the Holocaust are passed on down the generations. This year it was hosted live on Blackburn Cathedral's YouTube channel on Wednesday 27th January 2021.
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the World War II genocide of the European Jews. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews, around two-thirds of Europe's Jewish population. The murders were carried out in pogroms and mass shootings; by a policy of extermination through work in concentration camps; and in gas chambers and gas vans in German extermination camps, chiefly Auschwitz, Bełżec, Chełmno, Majdanek, Sobibór, and Treblinka in occupied Poland.
Germany implemented the persecution in stages. Following Adolf Hitler's appointment as Chancellor on 30 January 1933, the regime built a network of concentration camps in Germany for political opponents and those deemed "undesirable", starting with Dachau on 22 March 1933. After the passing of the Enabling Act on 24 March, which gave Hitler plenary powers, the government began isolating Jews from civil society; this included boycotting Jewish businesses in April 1933 and enacting the Nuremberg Laws in September 1935. On 9–10 November 1938, eight months after Germany annexed Austria, Jewish businesses and other buildings were ransacked or set on fire throughout Germany and Austria during what became known as Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, triggering World War II, the regime set up ghettos to segregate Jews. Eventually thousands of camps and other detention sites were established across German-occupied Europe.
The theme of Memorial Day this year was “Light the Darkness” and was promoted by students’ activities to counter discrimination and prejudice. The students also took part in special ceremonies, read poetry and learnt some of the powerful stories of Holocaust survivors.
Two of our students took part in the memorial day; John, one of our School of Sanctuary Ambassadors, and Aaliya, who is our Deputy Head Girl. They attended the ceremony online, took part in the one minute silence, and lit candles in honour of the victims and survivors of the Jewish Holocaust and other genocides.
Representatives from the Interfaith Forum, Blackburn with Darwen council, Faith Leaders and other schools across the borough also attended the event, as well as Mayor Iftakhar Hussain.
"Thank you so so much for choosing me to represent the school on this occasion it was a great experience!"
- AaliyaThe Memorial Day is available to view on the Blackburn Cathedral YouTube channel: