Holocaust Memorial Day

One of the Holocaust survivors who spoke at today’s ceremony talked about the tragedy of all discrimination.

As an adult he had become a doctor and today he said “there is only one race - the human race. Trust me as a doctor, beneath the skin, not matter what colour it is, the tissues and organs are the same”.

The Russians liberated Auschwitz
Yes, it was The Red Army. Quite ironic.

maddyone

I had to go out this afternoon but have been watching since 3.30pm.
It’s very emotive. I remember my two visits to Auschwitz. Birkenau is vast. You can barely believe what happened there, even though you know. Eighty years since Auschwitz was liberated. You’d think that the world would have learnt.

I've been there too. Nothing can prepare you for the horror of actually seeing it in person. The sheer scale of Birkenau is staggering. And it has an atmosphere you just can't put into words.

Our British soldiers liberated Bergan-Belson and were absolutely shocked and stunned at what they found there. And Bergan-Belson wasn’t even a ‘killing’ camp, it was a labour camp. The Russians liberated Auschwitz. I guess the Russians liberated more camps than any other of the allies because there were more camps in Poland than anywhere else, and the majority, but not all, of the ‘killing’ camps were in Poland. I believe our government had some idea of what was going on in Poland, but their energies were directed towards winning the war.

Indeed we must never forget.

As one of the speakers said “the opposite of love is not hate … it is indifference”.

Yes, I noted that LizzieDrip.

I think human beings have learnt and the problem is - Human beings! It's as if they cannot help themselves, like a sort of killer ape. Generation after generation the cry is 'Never again', but it always is. George Vth after the Great War visited the battlefields of Northern France, and was quite horrified at seeing row upon row of white crosses as far as the eye could see. He remarked that anyone wishing to make war, should visit these sites, and they might have a rethink! As we know, that didn't work. I think too, what makes the holocaust even more shocking is that a civilised, cultured European country, Germany, ancestral home of our own dear royal family, was capable of such appalling brutality. Apparently at the time there were whispered rumours coming out of Germany about these dreadful places, but were disbelieved as being so highly exaggerated as not to be true! How wrong people were.

Incredibly moving Holocaust remembrance ceremony.

As one of the speakers said “the opposite of love is not hate … it is indifference”.

We must never be indifferent to discrimination against those who are ‘different’.

yes we must remember and tell our children and never let those warped people who clain that it never happened be allowed to spread their apalling lies. But we do need to look at it with reference to today and as far as i can see Donald Trump is behaving in a very nazi like way when he thinks he can tell other countries that he is going to take them over and that he is going to send people back from the usa. He also thinks that he has the right to decide what women do with their bodies. So it is not whtever words he is using or whose side he seems to think he is on, he is taking power and thinking he can order life to suit him. that sounds very like hitlers attitude to me. We must fight against appalling attitudes and behaviour, where ever we find it. Our hands should be held out to help not hit

Oreo

Food for thought…. In the three threads about today there are so far only 48 posts between them and of those several are by just one poster.What does that tell you? There were more comments on a recent cleaning thread.

As i said on TV thread,
I have no words

What else is there to say? A truly awful time, today is a day for respectful reflection and remembrance

Quite!

I have posted just once on one of the threads but have been watching the memorial service on TV.

So very moving.

I had to go out this afternoon but have been watching since 3.30pm.
It’s very emotive. I remember my two visits to Auschwitz. Birkenau is vast. You can barely believe what happened there, even though you know. Eighty years since Auschwitz was liberated. You’d think that the world would have learnt.

JamesandJon33

I was rather horrified this morning to hear John Kay on BBC Breakfast, say that one survivor, I think her name was Renee, had been ‘ghettoed’. Surely ghetto is not a verb , but a place. Most disrespectful I thought .

I cringe at what passes for English used by professional communicators these days, when any noun can be "verbed" and any verb "nouned" (the phenomenon is accepted in schools now, showing utter contempt for the pupils they're supposed to be teaching). And yes, I agree, it's utterly insulting to everyone who was affected by these atrocities - the least reporters can do is communicate in good English.

The survivor who said, that as a child of 4 years old arriving in Auschwitz, her only understanding of life was that Jewish child = Death. 😥

Oreo

Food for thought…. In the three threads about today there are so far only 48 posts between them and of those several are by just one poster.What does that tell you? There were more comments on a recent cleaning thread.

What else is there to say? A truly awful time, today is a day for respectful reflection and remembrance.

Couldn't agree more. RIP all the victims of all nationalities & beliefs who were murdered during that insane time (I hate the word "executed" as it implies that they were criminals).

Oreo

Food for thought…. In the three threads about today there are so far only 48 posts between them and of those several are by just one poster.What does that tell you? There were more comments on a recent cleaning thread.

Yes, I thought that.

But then wondered if posters were watching the memorial and listening to the powerful, thought-provoking speeches.

JamesandJon33

Allira well it sounds awful

Well, it was just that - awful. Beyond awful.

My blood ran cold when I heard a lady say that one of the reasons she and her mother survived a concentration camp was that on the day she was born, the camp ran out of gas.

Chilling.

Food for thought…. In the three threads about today there are so far only 48 posts between them and of those several are by just one poster.What does that tell you? There were more comments on a recent cleaning thread.

Allira well it sounds awful

JamesandJon33

Yes, can be used as a verb.

Some very moving speeches by survivors.

I missed King Charles's speech as I had an appointment but will try to watch that later.

I was rather horrified this morning to hear John Kay on BBC Breakfast, say that one survivor, I think her name was Renee, had been ‘ghettoed’. Surely ghetto is not a verb , but a place. Most disrespectful I thought .

Just been listening to the World At One on BBC4, and had to turn it of as I was crying at the horror of it all. How can we be so cruel to one another.