Today is International Holocaust Memorial Day, and is a day to remember the most horrific events of the last century. But also a day to find hope.
Blog by Jack Tannock, media volunteer
A day to remember one of the most horrific events of the 20th century and the crimes that were perpetrated in places such as Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen and other concentration camps across Europe. A day to remember the estimated 6 million Jews who died in Nazi concentration camps. A day where we can try to make sure that we continue to learn from the past and prevent future genocides.
27 January is International Holocaust Memorial Day.
Unbelievable hope
But this year we would like to use it to focus on hope.
Take for example Ben Helfgott. A Polish Jew, he was only 10 years old when the Nazis arrived in his home town. Before even being sent to a concentration camp, Ben’s mother and sister were taken away and shot. He was an inmate of the Jewish Ghetto before being taken to Buchenwald concentration camp. He was one of the lucky ones who survived the harrowing conditions and after the war made his way to Britain. As well as setting up and getting involved in Holocaust Survivor groups in the UK he also became a world class weight lifter competing for his adopted nation in the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and winning medals at the Commonwealth Games and other international competitions.
His story is one of many examples of the courage and hope that we can take from even the most traumatic of times. And we can learn from each one.
Syria today
When people manage to escape the horrors of war such as the Holocaust or the ongoing civil war in Syria, it is our duty to help where we can.
And when it comes to Syria, the best help we can provide is to join the UNHCR programme for resettlement, and bring some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees to the UK.
This needs to happen now.
On Wednesday the UK Parliament will meet to debate the possibilities for this. They will also take a very important vote.
Hopefully, this will be the day when we can provide a bit of hope to the refugees of Syria.
We keep our fingers crossed.
You can also tweet about the vote and debate using the hashtag #TheRightThingToDo
