After the Holocaust, the world said ‘Never Again’. But humanity has failed to learn lessons from the Holocaust, and genocides continue to happen around the world, to this day. On Holocaust Memorial Day we remember the millions of men, women and children, who have been murdered in the genocides which followed – in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur in the hope that one day in the future there will be no genocide.

This year’s theme is focused on ordinary people. Ordinary people were the perpetrators, bystanders, rescuers, witnesses - and ordinary people were victims. This week, in humanities lessons, students have been exploring the ordinary people involved in genocide.

Students were asked to reflect on the significance of the theme and were invited to consider that we are all ordinary people today who can be extraordinary in our actions. We can all make decisions to challenge prejudice, stand up to hatred, to speak out against identity-based persecution, to shop responsibly. Ordinary people are also the ones who drive Holocaust Memorial Day, who lead on community commemorations, who support and encourage everyone around them to take part in remembrance and education projects.

Below are some comments from students in 9TG reflecting on their learning:

“Holocaust Memorial Day is a day that we commemorate the deaths of six million Jews in World War Two. It is important to learn about his as it helps is to challenge prejudice and stand up to hatred. This year’s theme ‘ordinary people’ is relevant as it shows that it was ordinary people like you and me who dies, spoke out and committed the murders.” - Anon

“We commemorate this day to show what happened to all those people who never did anything wrong, and to remember it in the future so that we don’t make the same mistake again. We tell this story to remind people that it can happen to anyone, whenever.” - Madison Rooney-Lee