Marking the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz

Each year on January 27th, communities across the UK and the Overseas Territories, including Gibraltar, come together to observe Holocaust Memorial Day, a time to honour the memory of the 6 million Jews who suffered and perished during the Holocaust. It also commemorates the millions more people murdered through the Nazi persecution of other groups and in the more recent genocides.

The date, 27th January, was chosen as the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, which serves as a poignant reminder of the atrocities committed and the enduring need to stand against intolerance in all its forms. Holocaust Memorial Day is also about addressing the prejudice and discrimination that persists in the present, ensuring that history does not repeat itself.

As Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel said, “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.’ Holocaust Memorial Day is a vital reminder of our collective responsibility to remember and to ensure that ‘never again” becomes a reality, not just a promise.

In light of this, Holocaust Memorial Day 2010 saw the launch of a new charity in Gibraltar named “Learning from Auschwitz”, which was formed 65 years after the liberation of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

Alongside being inspired by the UK initiative “Lessons from Auschwitz” the charity arose from the belief that teaching tolerance and embracing humanity’s diversity are essential to building a better society. Their main message is that education is paramount: “We can’t expect to change the world on our own, but we can do the best we can and pass on this message of love and acceptance. We are proof of how important education of this kind is”.

Learning from Auschwitz organises a 4-stage project, which involves taking 17-year-old students to see the concentration camps in Poland. The students participate in an orientation seminar before they visit Krakow, where they visit the camps and talk to a survivor. After the summer, the students participate in a follow-up seminar, allowing students to reflect on their experience before they design and implement projects in their schools and communities aimed at sharing their experiences and lessons learned.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, on their website, provides a quote from Helen Aronson BEM, who shares her experiences with school children to ensure they can learn from the past to ensure a better future:

“I hope by sharing my experiences people can better understand how inflicting suffering on one another benefits nobody, and instead find ways to reach out and open our hearts. I believe education, especially for our children, is key to renouncing hate and prejudice whenever we encounter it and to break down the barriers that may exist between us.”

As we mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, it is crucial to reflect on how important education evidenced in Gibraltar by Learning from Auschwitz is. Whilst racism and hatred do not always lead to genocide, all genocides begin with insidious stages, further developing in a predictable pattern. However, this is not inevitable and each deteriorating stage provides an opportunity for preventative measures, which can stop it. Learning about the Holocaust and more recent genocides and providing education can help us identify the warning signs in the world around us, ensuring that ‘never again’ does really become a reality and not just a promise.

You can view the Learning from Auschwitz site here, where shortly the student showcases will be published.

The UK charity, Lessons from Auschwitz can be accessed here.

The Holocaust Educational Site can be accessed here.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust can be viewed here.