80 years on

On Sunday, I introduced Stroud’s Holocaust Memorial Day event at Lansdown Hall, and the many excellent speakers, of various faiths and political positions, from the town and the county, on behalf of Community Solidarity Stroud District. Here’s my introductory speech:

Holocaust Memorial Day in Stroud

Thank you all so much for coming out this afternoon to stand in solidarity against hatred, cruelty and violence as we mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau.

We gather today to remember the horror of the Holocaust.

To cherish the memory of all those who died: Jews, Muslims, people of colour, Roma, homosexuals, socialists – and so many more.

To mourn the joy, laughter, craft, creativity and abundant life that was lost to the extermination of millions by small-minded people who could not imagine or believe that anything or anyone might be of value beyond the squalid, high-fenced borders of their own lives and minds.

We gather today to think also of all the peoples of the world who have suffered at the hands of genocide in the years since.

To think of those who live under the ever-more-naked threat of hatred, cruelty and violence from those who are beginning once again to talk the talk of genocide, whether or not they walk the walk yet.

We are here because we have heard the rumblings and seen the signs, the omens, the writings appearing on the walls of the world.

We are here to remember the past and, most urgently, to imagine a better future, free of such fear and hatred and pain.

We meet today in a circle to solidify our sense of solidarity, our humanity.

To acknowledge our equality, of sorrow and purpose.

To build a sense of empathy amongst us with all those who are oppressed, hated, hunted or attacked for no reason other than that they are different.

To acknowledge the truth that we, as a species, are made lesser by mass organised violence (on the body AND on the mind) inflicted upon our brothers and sisters born into different faiths, politics, skins or climes.