Including the 11th November, this is another day we should never allow ourselves to forget, indeed, nearly 384,000 British members of the Armed Forces died fighting against the Nazis and their allies, and over 67,000 British civilians died because of World War II, mostly due to bombing. Latest research has discovered that 1 in 20 British people do not believe the Holocaust happened, whilst 1 in 12 believe it has been exaggerated (Huffington Post). Let's not forget, since taking power in 1933, under Hitler's leadership, 11 million people in Europe were murdered by the Nazis, including two-thirds of the Jewish population of Europe, ie 6 million Jews were murdered!
For such a large number of Brits today to own up to such ignorance is very disturbing. The Nazis started by placing political opponents in their prison camps, eg Dachau was opened in March 1933 and was filled with Communists and Social Democrats, indeed, the Nazis proclaimed that Marxism was a 'Jewish Doctrine' and aimed to destroy Germany. But it wasn't just Jews and Socialists that were persecuted and murdered, other religious groups too, eg the Orthodox Christians of Eastern and Central Europe, Muslims, Romany, Slavs and Serbs, trades unionists, teachers, homosexuals, and physically and mentally ill people, basically, anyone who was not considered the 'perfect' Ayrian, and those who opposed the Nazis or tried to help those who did...
This year the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day, today, is Torn From Home, and includes remembrance of the end of the genocide in Cambodia 40 years ago, and the 25th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, that began in April 1994 (website).
Lest we forget... 😢
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