Remembering

It feels important this week to acknowledge Holocaust Memorial Day, not least because of the juxtaposition of the 80^th year and the way hatred and violence seem to be bubbling to the surface around the world at the moment.

Rather than write at length about all the different aspects of this, from the rise of populism to the influence of social media, the failures of western democracies to the threats from autocrats I will restrict myself to a couple of short comments. First, there is reason to be anxious – the riots in the UK this year, the actions of Trump, the situation in the Middle East all bear witness to this. But importantly, in the aftermath of the summer riots and attacks on mosques and immigrant centres other groups have sprung up. Around the country community groups have emerged focussed on building bridges across cultural, racial, and religious divides. It is this positive response, and the enthusiasm for it, which is cause for hope.

Holocaust Memorial Day 2025


Survivors 
dig deep into memories 
pain long buried 
with the remains 
of family 
friends 
children 

what lasts is their humanity 
strength 
will to survive
lives built afresh
honouring the dead

if this is what survives 
their suffering
may not have been in vain

we
now play our part
let them speak
hear their stories
bury them deep in our hearts
so this cannot be denied
or allowed again

hatred
now wears other clothes
different but strangely familiar
scapegoats
live in fear

first 
they came for the immigrants
but I was not an immigrant