Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is proud to support Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 (Friday, January 27). The theme this year is 'Ordinary People.'
Ordinary people facilitated genocide. Ordinary people turned a blind eye, believed the propaganda, and joined murderous regimes.
Those persecuted, oppressed and murdered in genocide are not persecuted because of crimes they have committed. They are persecuted because they are ordinary people who belong to a particular group.
Ordinary people were involved in all aspects of the Holocaust and the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Ordinary people were perpetrators, bystanders, rescuers, and witnesses. Ordinary people were victims.
We are inviting residents to take a few minutes of their time on Friday, January 27, to remember and reflect on past world events.
Councillor Maureen Webber, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Council Business, said: "On Holocaust Memorial Day 2023, we remember those 'ordinary people' of all ages who so cruelly lost their lives.
"It is a day of reflection as we remember the atrocities and horrors of the past. Horrors such as the Holocaust and the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
"Each year, Holocaust Memorial Day is an opportunity for us all to learn more about the past and take action today for a better future. We all have a part to play in this.
"It is always important that the world comes together and marks Holocaust Memorial Day.
"Here in Rhondda Cynon Taf, we are proud to show our support. We remember all those innocent people who so tragically lost their lives during the Holocaust and the genocides that followed. Chapters in our world history which must never be repeated.
"We owe it to future generations to never allow such atrocities to happen again."
This year's Holocaust Memorial Day theme aims to highlight the 'ordinary people' who let genocide happen. The 'ordinary people' who actively committed genocide, and the 'ordinary people' who were persecuted. The theme will also prompt us to consider how 'ordinary people' such as ourselves can play a bigger part than we might imagine in challenging prejudice today.
People are asked to spend time on Holocaust Memorial Day to reflect on some of the worst times in world history. Millions of people were brutally killed at the hands of Nazi Germany and the subsequent genocides.
Ordinary People is a global affirmation and a call to action for Holocaust Memorial Day 2023, urging all of us to reflect on the past and strive towards achieving a better future.
People are asked to light a candle on Holocaust Memorial Day 2023, Friday, January 27, if safe to do so.
Between 1941 and 1945, the Nazis attempted to exterminate all of Europe's Jews. This systematic and planned attempt to murder Jewish people is known as the Holocaust.
By the end of the Holocaust, six million Jewish men, women and children had perished in ghettos, mass shootings and extermination camps.
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust: https://www.hmd.org.uk/what-is-holocaust-memorial-day/this-years-theme/
More than 1.1 million people were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau alone, with more than 90 per cent of the victims being Jewish.
Posted on 27/01/2023