Holocaust Memorial Day: One Day: Why it matters more than ever before

A moving tribute to victims of the Holocaust and other genocides will be hosted as part of an online commemoration later this week.

Hosted by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, the Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Forum and Blackburn Cathedral, every year the borough’s community has the opportunity to come together to promote and support Holocaust Memorial Day.

This year the ceremony has even more significance given the recent events of last weekend shocking terrorism incident in Texas.

Community leaders will stand in solidarity to mark the international commemoration on Thursday, 27 January, 2022.

There they will remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

Thoughts and prayers will also be given to the hostages who escaped the Synagogue siege on Saturday.

The annual commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day is a proper time to examine why remembering atrocities such as holocausts and genocides is critically important to current and future generations.

The virtual service of reflection is open to people of any faith or none.

The theme for the 2022 commemoration is “One Day” which reflects that when Holocaust and genocide survivors are often asked to provide a testimony of their experience they often begin by explaining how their lives were dramatically changed in “one day”.

Everyone in Blackburn with Darwen is welcome to be a part of the event, which will be streamed live on Blackburn Cathedral’s YouTube channel.

Pupils from eight Blackburn with Darwen schools will reflect on this year’s theme, with contributions on video as well as live on the day.

Councillor Mohammed Khan, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said:

Holocaust Memorial Day is an extremely important day in our borough’s annual calendar when we pay our respects to victims of the Holocaust and victims of genocide, oppression and torture.

Our community is still reeling from the events of last weekend in Texas. This makes this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony all the more poignant, as it gives our diverse communities a timely opportunity to stand together in solidarity against hate, racism and prejudice.

I’m grateful to the local school pupils who have been working on their contributions to the online ceremony, and look forward to hearing about their hopes for a tolerant and united future.

There are many ways to interpret the theme, these include ‘One Day we will realise we are stronger together’, ‘One Day we will realise we are all the same’, ‘One Day there will be peace in the world’ and ‘One Day all suffering will stop’.

Contributions to the online event will inspire hope for a future free from hate crime and prejudice.

In addition to schools, there will be contributions from –
Alison Ashworth -Taylor from Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE)  who will focus on ‘One Day we will all understand and respect each other’.

Mayor Cllr Derek Hardman, Abdul Kheratker, Chair of the Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Forum, BwD Youth MP, Zara Hayat and Leader of the Council, Coun Mohammed Khan CBE will all provide their own interpretations of the ‘One Day’ theme .

The Keynote Address is by Rabbi Arnold Saunders from Manchester, who is a friend of the borough and regularly contributes to local Holocaust Memorial Day activities.

Derek Estill, Secretary of the Blackburn with Darwen Interfaith Forum, is among those organising the ceremony. He said:

Holocaust Memorial Day draws us into the cruel senseless madness that murdered millions of Jews, and others, during the Second World War. It provides us with an opportunity to be alert to how easily society can lose its moral compass reminding us that it is up to us, today, to do all in our power to make sure we don’t lose it again by understand and valuing each other equally every day ‘One Day’ at a time.

Rev Dr Rowena Pailing from Blackburn Cathedral will host the online ceremony. She said:

This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day theme of ‘One Day’ invites us to think big, and have ambition for what we want our community and our world to look like.  As we remember those who were murdered in the Holocaust and subsequent genocides, to learn from its horror, we go some way to making our hope of a world free from discrimination, persecution and genocide into a reality.

The event will also show the lighting of memorial candles and include one minute’s silence.

For Holocaust survivors such as Iby Knill, who has visited Blackburn on a number of occasions, these memories, although painful, still remain fresh today.

She often shares her story in local schools to help future generations understand how, in one day, a life may be lost or saved and why it is important to practice understanding and tolerance to prevent future Holocausts and genocide.

In this frank and powerful film she shares the promise she made to twins who weren’t ever fortunate enough to escape the concentration camps. https://www.hmd.org.uk/resource/iby-knill-an-auschwitz-promise/

To watch online, the ceremony starts at 1.30pm, Thursday January 27.
Please visit: Blackburn Cathedral’s YouTube channel