This month marks Britain’s Tenth Holocaust Memorial Day.  This year commemorates the 65^th Anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.  On Wednesday 27^th January 2010, the country will remember the victims who perished under the Nazi regime.  Holocaust Memorial Day is the annual day of remembrance for the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust.  Let’s not forget that millions of others including Trade Unionists, the elderly, the disabled, and gay people were also victims of Nazi atrocities and brutality. 

It is important that we remember that men, women and small children were bullied, tortured and systematically murdered because of their race, religion, or sexuality.  The aim of this important day is to motivate people both individually and collectively, to ensure that the horrendous crimes of racism and victimisation committed during the Holocaust are never forgotten.  A couple of years ago I personally visited Auschwitz-Birkenau and was absolutely overwhelmed by the sense of utter desolation at the site of so many crimes against humanity.   

The annual day of remembrance commemorates all those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust and in more recent genocides.  However, its aim is to encourage people to ensure that the terrible crimes, racism and victimisation committed so shamefully during the Holocaust and subsequent genocides are neither forgotten nor repeated.  To honour those who perished in the Holocaust I will also sign a Book of Commitment in Westminster this month to pay tribute to the memory of those who were murdered.

Across the country, people will be marking the day in a variety of ways, with schools preparing displays and school assemblies, community groups hosting lectures and performing plays and places of worship giving services of commemoration.  However you choose to mark the day, it is vital that we as a society remember the millions of men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazi regime.    

Although we are powerless to change past events, we can ensure that by teaching future generations about the significance of the Holocaust, and by continuing to fight against prejudice and discrimination, we can hopefully avoid similar acts of madness and cruelty from ever occurring again.

We all have a responsibility to tackle bigotry and help nurture a more tolerant society.  Each victim of the Holocaust needs to be remembered and I encourage everyone in our area to get involved in Holocaust Memorial Day.  Further information about Holocaust Memorial Day and events are available on the Holocaust Memorial Day website at www.hmd.org.uk