Holocaust Memorial Day 2023

Friday 27 January is Holocaust Memorial Day, when we remember the Holocaust and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. It is a time to reflect on and learn from the past, in the hope that we can create a better future.

The theme this year is Ordinary People. Those who are oppressed and murdered in genocide aren't persecuted because of crimes they've committed - they are targeted simply because they are ordinary people who belong to a particular group.

In every genocide, ordinary people have choices. There are ordinary people who believe propaganda and are influenced to the point where they join murderous regimes. There are ordinary people who become extraordinary, making brave decisions to rescue and hide the persecuted, and stand up to tyranny. But ordinary people also made decisions to ignore what is going on around them, to be bystanders, to allow the genocide to continue.

The start of the war in Ukraine in 2022 has brought closer to home the brutality and tragedy of war and shown us the fragility of peace. Ordinary people going about their day to day lives, suddenly plunged into the chaos and dangers of war. Ordinary people persuaded of the need to hate, fear and invade. Ordinary people suddenly becoming extraordinary, bravely defending their homes and their communities. And here in Richmond and across the country, ordinary people showing extraordinary humanity and kindness by opening their homes and their hearts to refugees.

This Holocaust Memorial Day we all need to consider how ordinary people, such as ourselves, play a bigger part than we might imagine in challenging prejudice today and creating a better tomorrow.

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