Tens of thousands of people from across the country watched the UK Ceremony for Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) 2023 and joined parliamentarians, faith leaders, and their friends and neighbours to light candles in their windows in remembrance of those murdered, and to stand against prejudice and hatred today.

The Commemoration was hosted by BBC presenter & journalist Kirsty Wark and featured powerful testimonies from Holocaust survivor Dr. Martin Stern MBE and Amouna Adam, a survivor of the genocide in Darfur.

GRASSROOTS Chair Revd Canon David Lawson said, “In a world scarred by genocides, HMD helps us to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, alongside the millions of other people killed under Nazi persecution of other groups and during more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. Genocide must be resisted every day. We cannot be complacent. Even in the UK, prejudice and the language of hatred must be challenged by us all.”

Chair of Luton Council of Faiths Prof Zafar Khan said, “Each year across the UK, thousands of people come together to learn more about the past and take action to create a safer future. Together we learn that genocide does not just take place on its own – it’s a steady process which can begin if discrimination, racism, and hatred are not checked and prevented.”

“We’re fortunate here in the UK; we are not at immediate risk of genocide. However, discrimination has not ended, nor has the use of the language of hatred or exclusion. There is still much to do to create a safer future for all.”

Introducing this year’s theme – Ordinary People, Kirsty Wark said, “We are all ordinary people who have made the decision to spend time today learning about and commemorating those genocides. It was ordinary people in those places too, living ordinary lives, Who were attacked, not because of something they’d done, but simply because of who they were, because of their religion, their nationality, and the colour of their skin. Ordinary people stood by watching it happen, persuaded by the propaganda, fed to them, or afraid to take action to try to help.”

Addressing the Holocaust survivors, directly, the prime minister of the UK Rt Hon Sir Rishi Sunak said, “Week in and week out you have shared your testimonies. You have inspired us with your courage And you have taught us where hatred and prejudice can lead. Besides, thank you for that, I want to say we have heard you. We will fight antisemitism in all forms, wherever they are found.”

This was indeed an unprecedented era of horror in human history. But people around the world have continued to suffer atrocities and genocide from 1945 to today.

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis stated that the perpetrators of the Holocaust were ordinary people who chose to engage in acts of extraordinary evil. Heroes of the Holocaust were not superhuman. They were also ordinary people who chose to engage in acts of extraordinary and remarkable bravery and courage at the risk of their own lives. He said, “Our societies stand and fall on the decisions taken not by mad tyrants and dictators but by ordinary people. All genocides were carried out by ordinary people, but the UN Convention on Prevention of Genocide was also drawn out by ordinary people. So today, the welfare of Uyghurs of China and Rohingyas in Myanmar is in the hands of the ordinary people, as is the security of millions of people across Ukraine. Surely the time has come for all ordinary people to guarantee that never again means never again.”

Songs by the Fourth Choir, and the London LGBTQ+ Choir, crystallised this year’s theme of ‘ordinary people’. At the end of the ceremony, Contributors lit their memorial candles ahead of the national light the darkness moment. https://www.hmd.org.uk/lightthedarkness/

UK marks Holocaust Memorial Day 2023