Holocaust Memorial Day 2024

With our world in increasing turmoil and uncertainty, it is even more important that we pause to recall the atrocities of the past and the horror, and method of the destruction, by the Nazis of,  millions of Jews, Roma, Resistance members, politicians, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and disabled persons. The Holocaust Memorial Day is the day for people to remember all the victims and those in the genocides which followed in other parts of the world. The 27th of January marks the liberation of Auschwitz, Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
We are reminded this day of the Fragility of Freedom, especially in our own times.
This is summed up, for me, in a message from King Charles III, which he has asked to be shared with others.

A message from The King on Holocaust Memorial Day 2024
Published 26 January 2024

“Holocaust Memorial Day offers a valuable opportunity for the richly diverse communities of this nation to come together and recommit to building a society free from antisemitism, persecution and hatred.”

This week, people from across the United Kingdom and the world are coming together to remember the six million Jewish men, women, and children who were murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution, and those killed in other genocides such as in Rwanda, Srebrenica, and Cambodia.
The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2024 is the Fragility of Freedom, a stark reminder to us all how freedom can so easily be lost when it is taken for granted, and how crucial it is, therefore, to learn from those who bear witness to the horrors of the Holocaust and all genocides. Tragically, we live in a world where violence and acts of unspeakable cruelty are still perpetrated against people for no other reason than their religion, their race or their beliefs. In recommitting ourselves to remembering the horrors of the past, we take an important step in creating a safer, freer world today and for future generations.

For us in the United Kingdom, Holocaust Memorial Day offers a valuable opportunity for the richly diverse communities of this nation to come together and recommit to building a society free from antisemitism, persecution and hatred. This steadfast commitment is at the heart of everything the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust does. It is why its vital work in ensuring that people across the country are able to pay fitting tribute to those who were murdered and to honour those who survived, remains as important as ever before.

CHARLES R

A Prayer for Holocaust Memorial Day 2024:
The Fragility of Freedom

The Council of Christians and Jews in the United Kingdom has written the following prayer to reflect this theme.

Eternal God, we come before you, conscious of the fragility of freedom,
to remember the victims of the Holocaust
We lament the loss of the six million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust,
the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution, and victims of all genocides.

Remembering the past, help us today to use what freedom we have
to stand up for those whose freedom is denied.
We pray for a day when all shall be free to live in peace,
unity and love.

Amen