Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) takes place on 27th January each year and is the day for everyone to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution, and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.

This year's theme is Ordinary People.

Genocide is facilitated by ordinary people who turn a blind eye, believe propaganda or join murderous groups. Those who are persecuted, oppressed or murdered in genocide aren’t persecuted because of crimes they have committed - they are simply ordinary people who belong to a group such as Roma, Jewish Community or Tutsi.

Bystanders are people who let things happen, forget what is happening and not think about the impact it has on the people who are affected. 

Rescuers are heroic and courageous people who help people who are in harmful or abusive situations. 

They are all ordinary people but some become extraordinary people such as Sir Nicholas Winton who chose to save 669 Czech children from Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia in only 9 months. There are around 6000 people who owe their lives to this extraordinary person, as descendants of those children he saved.

To find out a bit more about the genocides listed above, visit Canalside Heritage Centre to view the temporary display done by a Year 11 student from Kinver High School.

To find out more about Holocaust Memorial Day you can visit the Holocaust Memorial Day website. 

Other things of interest:

Films to watch

• Schindler's List (1993)
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
• Hotel Rwanda (2004)
• First they Killed My Father (2017)

Books to read

• Remembering: Voices of the Holocaust by Lyn Smith
• And the World Closed its Doors by David Clay Large
• Oskar Schindler by David Crowe