The theme for this year's Holocaust Memorial Day is Journeys. There were many journeys made during the Holocaust but before I talk about them, let me ask you what journeys you have made?
I think of numerous journeys I have made and am making: journeys to different countries either on holiday or for educational purposes, including the journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau which started my journey as a Holocaust Educational Trust Ambassador; the journey my family made from South Africa to Australia to Scotland to England; the journey I made through school; the journey I made to university and am making now; and, arguably the most joyful, journey of my Christian walk with God.
So what journeys have you made? Think about them now.
How similar or different are they to the journeys made during the Holocaust? Are those journeys truly unique journeys?
There were the Kindertransports that brought children all around Europe to this country and others. There were the journeys to the ghettos of squalid and cramped lifestyles. Then there were the most well-known journeys: to the concentration camps, the gas chambers, and up through the chimneys. There were long cold dark train journeys where victims were cramped into small compartments for hours on end like tinned sardines. There were the death marches. There were journeys away from loved ones: family, friends, belongings, homes. And yet, there were also journeys of hope. Journeys were made for freedom. Journeys were made by the liberators, bringing freedom and an end of Nazi persecution. There were the journeys to fresh starts in Palestine, in the Promised Land.
These is not an exhaustive list. There were many more and there are many unique stories of unique journeys. There are many more journeys made by victims of subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur. Our duty is to remember and never forget each of these. Our duty is to try and make the journeys of the future ones of hope and joy. Remembering the stories of the few remaining survivors we have now will allow the next generation and the next generation and so on to experience better journeys of all forms that will allow them to celebrate their diversity and achieve their potential.
Journeys: what will you pledge to do differently this year to bring about the best of them?
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