Holocaust marked on liberation anniversary
Religious services, film screenings and other events are taking place up and down the country to mark Holocaust memorial day.
Around 25,000 people are expected to attend the events marking the deaths of six million Jews during the second world war at the hands of the Nazis.
The memorial day, which seeks to maintain awareness about genocides in order to prevent more occurring, will also remember other genocides including those in Bosnia and Kosovo, Rwanda and Cambodia.
“We are the last generation who will be able to hear directly from its survivors and liberators. We must ensure their testimony does not die,” Tony Blair said.
“We must remember, too, those individuals who stood out against this tide of evil, who risked everything in the name of humanity. We must reflect as well that intolerance, hatred, even genocide did not end 60 years ago,” he added.
Yesterday the UN all-but unanimously passed a resolution condemning those who deny the Holocaust took place.
Only Iran, which earlier this year held a conference questioning the historical evidence supporting the Jewish experience at death camps like Auschwitz, objected to the resolution.
January 27th was chosen as Holocaust memorial day because it is the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.
Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell said that, in addition to reflecting on the lessons of the past, the day should be used to re-affirm a desire to fight evil in the modern world.
“This commemoration. represents a shared determination to fight racism, intolerance and evil, wherever it is found,” he said.
“Today there are those who suffer from the gravest atrocities. We must strengthen our resolve to prevent such crimes, and to defend and protect universal human rights.”
