Holocaust Memorial Day

“You didn’t think about yesterday, and tomorrow may not happen, it was only today that you had to cope with and you got through it as best you could.” Iby Knill, survivor of the Holocaust One Day for Holocaust Memorial Day Holocaust Memorial Day is One Day 27 January that we put aside to come together to remember, to learn about the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur, in the hope that there may be One Day in the future with no genocide. We learn more about the past, we empathise with others today, and we take action for a better future. One Day is a snapshot One Day is just a snapshot in time and therefore cannot give the full picture, the context, the background that is needed, but it can help bring a piece of the full picture to life. On 27th January the College remembers those who suffered and those who lost their lives during the Nazi persecution and Holocaust with a One Day snapshot. The candles lit are for the 6 million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis and those who survived. The white petals represent the innocence of those lives lost. The red petals for the violence ordered by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party which was at the heart of the persecution and genocide in Germany in the 1930 and 1940s.

I Cannot Forget

By Alexander Kimel – Holocaust Survivor

Do I want to remember? The peaceful ghetto, before the raid: Children shaking like leaves in the wind. Mothers searching for a piece of bread. Shadows, on swollen legs, moving with fear. No, I don’t want to remember, but how can I forget?

Do I want to remember, the creation of hell? The shouts of the Raiders, enjoying the hunt. Cries of the wounded, begging for life. Faces of mothers carved with pain. Hiding children, dripping with fear. No, I don’t want to remember, but how can I forget?

Do I want to remember, my fearful return? Families vanished in the midst of the day. The mass grave steaming with vapor of blood. Mothers searching for children in vain. The pain of the ghetto, cuts like a knife. No, I don’t want to remember, but how can I forget?

Do I want to remember, the wailing of the night? The doors kicked ajar, ripped feathers floating the air The night scented with snow-melting blood. While the compassionate moon, is showing the way For the faceless shadows, searching for kin. No, I don’t want to remember, but I cannot forget.

Do I want to remember this world upside down? Where the departed are blessed with and instant death. While the living condemned to a short wretched life And a long tortuous journey into unnamed place, Converting Living Souls, into ashes and gas. No. I have to Remember and Never Let You Forget.