Birmingham Holocaust Memorial Service: Auschwitz survivor on stopping the hate

To commemorate the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and Nazi persecutions, The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Muhammad Afzal lead the city’s annual civic commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day at Millennium Point.

This year’s event included candle-lighting ceremony, as well as a testimony from Holocaust survivor Mindu Hornick MBE, a performance by violinist Simone Schehtman, Birmingham’s Young Poet Laureate Fatma Mohiuddin, and the city council’s choir.

The theme for this year’s event was One Day, with the hope that one day in the future there will be a world with no genocide. It’s also a chance to learn more about history, empathise with others today, and take action toward a better future.

Mindu Hornick MBE, Auschwitz survivor, said: “By us educating and telling people what happened, we’re hoping is that it will never happen again. Unfortunately, there are still terrible atrocities. It is very important to remember this terrible event, and what we hope is that our education will remind you of what prejudice and hate can do.”

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Muhammad Afzal, said: “All the genocides which happened in different countries, even after 1945 - I think we should condemn them all - the Holocaust, as well as all the genocides which have happened.

“And we should try to teach our future generations about what happened in the past, and we should not do the same mistake again in future.”

Cllr. John Cotton, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion, Community Safety & Equalities, said: “I think it’s been an incredibly moving event.

“We’ve heard some very profound moving and inspiring speeches and contributions as the cities come together to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, an act of remembrance, and also an act of remembering that there’s much more that we need to do to challenge hatred and discrimination and genocide denial in our world.

“We have a duty to remember those stories, share them with the next generation, and also to stand up against the driving forces of those evils today. So racism, discrimination, and hatred, we all have to stand firm against those.”

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going.