Light has been associated with hope for thousands of years; the two habitually intertwining whenever comfort and encouragement are in need of distribution. Hence the old saying, ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’, a metaphorical beacon of hope. Yet the commonality of such a maxim in turn verifies the existence of an ever present darkness, forever germinating in such an ominous fashion. The 27th of January marks Holocaust Memorial Day, this year projecting the theme ‘Be the light in the darkness’. While the words ‘Holocaust’ and ‘light’ seldom meet, and possess drastically different connotations, this ‘call to action’, if you will, should not be interpreted as a naive and distasteful neglect of the ‘darkness’ surrounding genocide. Rather, it is encouragement to actively strive to confront prejudice, whatever form it takes and wherever it is encountered.
While the Nazis were neither the first nor last to use concentration camps, or commit genocide, it is the Holocaust that is largely regarded as the personification of evil, and the moral abandonment mankind is capable of. As historian Dan Stone points out, for some “the extrodrinarily vileness of the Nazi camps means that it is invalid to use the term ‘concentration camps’ to encompass both the Nazi sites and those established by other regimes”. The atrocities committed made such an impact that it is required to be taught in this country by law as part of the Key Stage 3 curriculum in an attempt to prevent such evil from resurfacing, with similar laws existing in other countries. Learning about the holocaust at home, school or maybe a museum can be overwhelming. It is a moment in time shrouded by darkness, scarce of light. Yet those that survived, those that after liberation had to create brand new lives, in different countries with little to no family, can now be held as examples of light. Examples of strength against incomprehensible adversity. We all have a duty to ensure their struggle, their pain is never repeated.
The debate around responsibility for the Holocaust is unsurprisingly an emotive one, and for many is too heavy to comprehend let alone bear. Yet the discussion is prone to uncover dangerous omissive antics, which we’d do well to confront. In 1949, plans were rejected to build apartment blocks where Ebensee, a subcamp of Mauthausen in Austria, had previously stood - just four years after its liberation, which locals had been heavily involved in. Plans like this were not uncommon, as those who lived near concentration camps unsurprisingly wanted to cover up the scars inflicted on their hometowns, with the intention of moving on. So heavy is the burden of responsibility, that whole nations are still battling with the concept today. In 2018, a law was passed in Poland punishing anyone who should claim the country bore any responsibility for Nazi crimes - this originally included a maximum three year sentence.
Undeniably a vast, distinct amount of responsibility lays on on the shoulders of those who committed the atrocities, yet some historians will argue that you and I must accept a more encompassing accountability regarding the existence of genocide. Percy Knauth, in his first hand account of Germany days after the war (Germany in Defeat, 1948), rather ominously foretold the dangers of letting concentration camps exist post World War II; ‘If we deny that responsibility today, as Germany did when Hitler came to power, we may find Buchenwald [a Nazi concentration camp] in our own land tomorrow’. While the responsibility of those who run concentration camps must not be overlooked, this passage emphasizes the necessity of light to confront prejudice, least the harrowing conception of a ‘Buchenwald in our land’ materialise. Somewhat dramatic, yet Knauth has adopted the concept of responsibility into the message of ‘Be the light in the darkness’, as a way to oblige the reader to educate themselves and prevent genocides from reoccurring. Accentuating that this by no means is only the duty of survivors.
Today, social media is a large - maybe, admittedly, too large - part of our lives and people are choosing to use it as a way to spread awareness surrounding injustice. Yet increasingly it seems to be contorting into a misinformation minefield, full of echo chambers. As well as a useful way for charities and people to spread light, it also serves as a breeding ground for darkness and misinformation (this includes the perplexingly named ‘alternative facts’).
Hope not Hate’s State of Hate 2020 report showed an increase in online forums for Holocaust denial. Denial is also a commonality in Bosnia, where racially cleansing took place during the Bosnian War in the late 20th century. Their current President Milorad Dodik called the genocide a ‘fabricated myth’ in 2019, just three years after politician Radovan Karadžić was found guilty of war crimes and genocide. Denial is certainly something to be challenged and tackled.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of issues in this country, the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s 2020 investigation into antisemitism in the Labour party ‘concluded that there were unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination for which the Labour Party is responsible’. This led Sir Keir Starmer (Labour leader) to apologise to the Jewish community, promising that ‘rebuilding [the community’s] trust starts now’. You may remember UKIP’s ‘Breaking Point’ poster, which was used during their Brexit campaign to stir fears about immigration, a poster which the then Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne called ‘disgusting and vile’ and claimed it ‘had echoes of literature used in the 1930s’. Yet this poster is only a small part of the rise in populist and nationalist parties, such as True Finns and Rassemblement National (National Rally), that conjure fears of ‘Islamisation’.
Fear of the unknown, or Xenophobia, is unfortunately common, but it’s only truly dispelled through discourse; which hardly exists on social media. People tend to shout down and abuse those who disagree with them, hence ‘cancel culture’, which achieves nothing. Kindness and generosity are significant ways of providing light, and we can take examples from people such as Safet Vukalić who, when imprisoned in a concentration camp during the genocide in Bosnia, was brought food and medication by some soldiers who didn’t torture and kill him as other soldiers were doing. In turn, his family also showed kindness and generosity to others, such as his sister who risked her life making journeys every day to bring food to prisoners of concentration camps.
Huge differences can be made by individuals through genuine and meaningful actions. Mukesh Kapila (United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan 2003- 2004) spoke out to reveal the truth of the Genocide in Darfur. His actions played a key role in the formal indictment of Omar al-Bashir, the President of Sudan at that time. Al-Bashir was charged with Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes by the International Criminal Court, with charges of genocide added in 2010. Speaking out should not be feared, any one individual can make a huge difference.
Genocides are happening today. They could very well happen in the future. Groups like the Uighur in China and Rohynga in Myanmar are currently facing horrifying atrocities as a result of identity based prejudice. We can now look back at Germany in the 1930s, and we can recognise the Nuremberg Laws, the focus and admiration of the Volksgemeinshaft (People’s Community) and dehumanisation of those who don’t fit in, as ultimate signifiers of prejudice and injustice. Yet our focus now must be to stop this from happening again, to become educated on the goings on of the present and challenge hatred, such as UKIP’s ‘Breaking Point’ poster.
This is providing the light in the darkness, and this is what we shall focus on not only this Holocaust Memorial Day, but also for the rest of our lives, because others might depend on it.
“We can’t choose to vanish the dark, but we can choose to kindle the light.” - Edith Eger, Holocaust survivor, The Choice.
Bibliography
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust: https://www.hmd.org.uk/what-is-holocaust-memorial-day/this-years-theme/
Dan Stone, 2015, The Liberation of the Camps: The End of the Holocaust and Its Aftermath, Yale University Press. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24796817-the-liberation-of-the-camps
Hope not Hate’s State of Hate 2020 report: https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/download-state-of-hate-2020/
Bosnian Genocide denial: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/10/genocide-denial-gains-ground-25-years-after-srebrenica-massacre
Equality and Human Rights Commission’s 2020 investigation into antisemitism in the Labour party: https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/investigation-into-antisemitism-in-the-labour-party.pdf
Sir Keir Starmer’s response to the report: https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/i-apologise-to-the-jewish-community-rebuilding-your-trust-starts-now-a4408901.html
UKIP’s ‘Breaking Point’ poster: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-referendum-poster-nigel-farage-polls-michael-gove-a7089946.html
Mukesh Kapila on the Darfur Genocide: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p015krtm
Uighur Muslims in China: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cpz1y9ney3mt/uighur
Rhoynga Muslims in Myanmar https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-41566561
Edith Eger, 2018, The Choice, Ebury Publishing available at: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1110210/the-choice/9781846045127.html
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