Monday 27 January marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration camp complex. From the beginning of this century, this day has been marked as Holocaust Memorial Day, commemorating all those who have died through genocide, and providing an opportunity for people to come together, learn both from and about the past, and take actions to make a better future for all.
It is not just those who died across Europe up to 1945 we commemorate, but subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur, and against the Yazidi people in Iraq and Syria. Genocide happens when discrimination, racism and hatred go unchallenged and unchecked.
With antisemitism and anti-Muslim rhetoric and action growing, following hostilities in Israel, Gaza and the Lebanon, there is an ever greater
need to learn from the past. In this, Christians have a part to play, with others, to commemorate and educate as we aspire to grow as Kingdom People, following our Kingdom values of love, compassion, justice and freedom.
