Holocaust Memorial Day- 27th January 2019

Holocaust Memorial Day is a time when we seek to learn the lessons of the past and recognise 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.  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 and Holocaust memorial Day is an opportunity to start this process. (Taken from the HMD site.)

Holocaust Memorial day and genocides

Remembrance day marks 100 years since the end of WW1.

One hundred years ago – on November 11 1918, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – millions of men laid down their guns.

This was Armistice Day, the end of the first world war.

Germany  had collapsed militarily, economically and politically.

Armistice Day – later known as Remembrance Day – has since been commemorated every year. There were lots of ceremonies around the country and in other countries, to mark this occasion.

Remembrance Day

Black History Month

This is where schools and the media in Britain try to:-

• Increase people’s knowledge of black history.
• Show information on positive Black contributions to British Society .
• Build the confidence and awareness of Black people in their cultural heritage.

The origins of BHM go back to 1926, it was established to celebrate African Caribbean culture in America. It is still celebrated there in February each year.

• It allows people to increase their knowledge of Black History.
• It shows information on positive Black contributions to British society.
• It also builds confidence and awareness of black people in their cultural heritage.
• To celebrate and embrace all cultures.
• Allow people to study Black History within more depth.

black-history-month-2016

 

 

 

70th Anniversary of Auschwitz being liberated.

January 2015 marks seventy years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest camp established by the Germans. A complex of camps, Auschwitz included a concentration camp, killing center, and forced-labor camps. It was located 37 miles west of Krakow (Cracow), near the prewar German-Polish border.

In mid-January 1945, as Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz camp complex, the SS began evacuating Auschwitz and its satellite camps. Nearly 60,000 prisoners were forced to march west from the Auschwitz camp system. Thousands had been killed in the camps in the days before these death marches began. Tens of thousands of prisoners, mostly Jews, were forced to march to the city of Wodzislaw in the western part of Upper Silesia. SS guards shot anyone who fell behind or could not continue. Prisoners also suffered from the cold weather, starvation, and exposure on these marches. More than 15,000 died during the death marches from Auschwitz. On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz and liberated more than 7,000 remaining prisoners, who were mostly ill and dying. It is estimated that at minimum 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945; of these, at least 1.1 million were murdered.