18 Nov 2009
At this time of year many people's thoughts turn to the brave men and women who stood shoulder to shoulder to defeat the Nazi threat in World War Two. Many didn't return and we should never forget their sacrifice, nor should future generations.
It was against this background that I was recently fortunate to travel with over 200 young people to the former concentration camps at Auschwitz. The visits are funded by the Holocaust Educational Trust which is supported by government funding. The purpose is to show young people first hand the callous treatment that was meted out to well over a million people whose only sin was that they were perceived to be different. The majority were, of course Jews, but they also included other persecuted religious groups, trade unionists, gypsies and homosexuals
The main focus was for young people to understand that these were these just ordinary men, women and children, not unlike themselves with lives to lead and families to build. But it was also important to recognise that brutality was carried out by ordinary men and women. Nazi leaders regime had a warped view on how to develop their nation but they could not have succeeded without the complicity of their soldiers and those who kept their heads down.
Clearly, there is an analogy with the rise of far right groups in our country today. Yet again we are reminded that the best way to see evil flourish is for men and women of goodwill to do nothing. If Hitler had been halted in the early 1930s world history would be hugely different.
And genocide isn't just for the history books. I have also visited the Red House torture centre in Iraqi Kurdistan where thousands of ordinary people were tortured and executed by Saddam Hussein as part of a campaign that killed nearly 200,000 Kurds.
I was heartened by the reaction of our great young people to the horrors of Auschwitz. They see their world as something worth cherishing and standing up for. Hopefully, the lessons that they learnt on a Bonfire Night in Poland will stay with them always.
I meet many young people in my job and I believe that most are much better informed than my generation ever was and much more clued in than the majority of adults give them credit for. This gives me great hope for the future. It's vital that funding for the Holocaust Educational Trust continues whichever party is in office in Britain.
Newcastle Chronicle and Journal
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