The Holocaust was not simply a moment in time

The theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘journeys’: whether the physical hardship of the journey to a concentration camp, the struggle to cope with life as a survivor, or families trying to reunite after being forced apart. No one can fail to be moved by the testimony of survivors, facilitated by the Holocaust Educational Trust, telling stories of the journey of loss, escape, survival or reunion. But for me, reflecting on the theme of ‘journeys’ also helped me better understand that the Holocaust was not simply a moment in time.

The Holocaust marked the start of a new journey of remembrance that we all have a personal responsibility to take, guided by memory and driven by hope.

I travelled this year to Auschwitz-Birkenau with the Holocaust Educational Trust. For me, this was a personal journey that took me not just back in time, but gave me a renewed passion with which to try and work to shape the future. Because as I walked around the camp, I was haunted by the great words of the Philosopher, George Santayana, who said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

What I saw that day, what I heard, and what I felt, made me more committed than ever to doing my part to help ensure the world ‘never forgets’. What really haunted me was not simply the vastness of the complex, but the small symbols of the inhumanity.

The set of keys brought to Auschwitz-Birkenau by the family who expected to return home. Or the meticulously filled-in luggage tag, attached to a bag that was never opened, symbolising the hope of being able to retrieve it in case it was lost on the journey.

I ended the visit in a low-level building, known as the ‘sauna’ where we were confronted with thousands of photos that inmates brought with them on arrival at the camp. A wall of faces, families, and feelings – all caught on film and now frozen in time. Their owners brought them with them to Auschwitz-Birkenau as a way to remember. Many were packed in haste, but all represented a memory worth holding onto. And when the scale of the suffering can feel too vast to comprehend, it is these individual pictures that come into my mind.

Although every story and image is unique, together they reinforce our collective determination to never forget.  So when we pause for thought today to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day, I hope we will all feel this is the start of a journey that we all have to embark on together.

Because in truth, Holocaust Memorial Day is about more than simply remembering. It’s about making sure we never forget.