We're joining the nation to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) today and mark the 80th anniversary of both the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, and the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia.
Holocaust Memorial Day was established as a day to remember those who were murdered during the Holocaust between 1933 and 1945, including Jewish, Roma, Sinti, Black, sexual minorities and disabled people, amongst others. Holocaust Memorial Day is a stand against prejudice and hatred.
The Holocaust was the attempt by the Nazis and their collaborators to destroy all Jewish people in Europe. The Nuremberg Laws were brought in, which discriminated against Jews, and stripped them of their German citizenship. This ultimately led to the extermination of six million Jewish people
The theme of this year's event is For a Better Future. There are many things we can do to bring together a better future, starting with both learning and speaking about the Holocaust, challenging prejudice and racism such as antisemitism.
Each year across the UK on Holocaust Memorial Day, people come together to learn more about the past and resolve to take action to create a safer future. Many people light a candle at 8pm and display it in their windows to remember all those who perished, and as a promise to never let it happen again. At the University of Westminster, in addition to celebrating diversities and nurturing academic freedom, we have a strong resolve to challenge all forms of prejudices.
Event
Westminster warmly invites colleagues, students, faculty, and external attendees to engage in learning about the Holocaust.
Westminster invites you to join us in learning about the Shoah, the murder of around six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. We will hear the life story of, and testimony from, John Hajdu MBE, a Holocaust survivor, and explore the values of remembering, listening with respect, and learning from the past. We will also welcome other individuals whose family histories were shaped by the Shoah to share their life stories. John Hajdu is a survivor of the Holocaust in Hungary and lived under the subsequent socialist regime in Budapest. Having lived in the UK since 1957, John’s experiences of life after the Holocaust and as a refugee tell of the turmoil of post-World War Two Europe.
The event is hosted by Professor Dibyesh Anand, a Deputy Vice-Chancellor and a co-chair of the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
It is organised in collaboration with Westminster’s Jewish Society (JSoc) and the Union of Jewish Students (UJS).
We are grateful to Holocaust Educational Trust for its support.
