Holocaust Memorial Day: why we must all protect our culture of tolerance
Andrew Williams, the Chief Executive of Stowe Family Law is a proud Yorkshireman and Englishman. Blunt, straightforward and to the point, he has been a prime force in the development of the firm since he joined in 2004. A politician to boot, he was the youngest ever mayor of the City of Ripon.
During his year as Mayor there was a service at Ripon Cathedral to honour the return of troops from Afghanistan to their barracks near the city, and I stood in for the day as the Lady Mayoress. It was a day I won’t forget. The thanksgiving of the people who packed the Cathedral, many of them the troops and their families, was very moving. All of those in attendance were grateful for their safe return from one of the most dangerous places in the world.
Until we met in 2004, I don’t think Andrew had a longstanding relationship with a Jewish person before, and he and I have had long conversations about Judaism and how I deal with anti-Semitism. He knows I will stand up for who I am. Surprisingly perhaps, I don’t “blame” people for being anti-Semitic. I am sorry they are. However, I regard discrimination as an unpleasant part of the human psyche. I think people do naturally tend to differentiate against those who are unlike them – because of their race, religion or colour.
Last week Andrew took his mother out for tea. He does this every week, but this time he was seated near to an elderly man who appeared to be deaf. The man was making remarks that were anti-Semitic. “I’ve never met a decent Jew” he shouted loudly, and kept on in this vein until Andrew decided he had heard enough. He approached the man and told him he found his comments offensive. The man immediately changed the conversation.
Anti-Semitism is thousands of years old and is still alive and kicking across the world. Sometimes people make anti-Semitic comments that they have no idea are actually offensive. “I’m instructing you because you’re a clever Jew” said one client to me. Another said: “I’ve only come to you because I think you can handle that Jew boy lawyer in London. You’re all the same”.
But on a more positive note, what is marvellous about being English and living in England is that overall, we are not a country packed full of extremists. We do tolerate free speech, but only so much of it. We recognise that you can overstep the mark and we don’t slavishly adhere to the principle as they do in the USA, irrespective of who may be harmed in the process. We have a balance.
On the whole we are a country of moderation. We don’t execute people for murder as they do in the USA or China, although we do imprison serious criminals for life. We don’t have extreme swings of power in Government; we tend to replace one ruling party with another that isn’t too radically different, unlike Continental Europe where an extreme left-wing party can follow a right-wing one. We pass laws that are generally respectful and tolerant of people, although we don’t let them over step the mark. We have a monarchy that puts duty first, and is seen to work for the good of the country and its people, and a system of checks and balances between the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary that works very well overall and does not allow dictators to seize absolute power.
Yes, I am unashamedly proud of being English and living in this green and pleasant land. The country isn’t perfect, and nor are we, but overall we are a very decent country and enjoy a pleasant lifestyle. So I count myself and my family as incredibly fortunate to be English. Twists of fate over the centuries have meant that my ancestors have certainly known the most severe financial hardships in faraway lands, and suffered terribly at the hands of an absolute monarch. They struggled under the Tsar in Russia and had to flee the destructive pogroms. But by escaping, and being given a safe haven in England, they ensured their descendants escaped the horror of the Holocaust.
Today is Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK, when we honour the memory of all those people who died during the Second World War Holocaust and subsequent genocides around the world.
I grew up with people who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust first-hand. I was once with a girlfriend whose father told us the story of a little boy being put onto a train, given a kiss by his deeply saddened parents, and sent with fellow children to live in a foreign country – England. He said the little boy never saw his parents again, and then added sadly: “the little boy was me”.
His story has stayed in my mind from all those years ago. I remember another friend showing me his family photo album and telling me that everyone in that album had been killed in the Holocaust. His parents had managed to escape but the rest of their family had all perished.
I have seen elderly people with numbers tattooed down their arm; the branding they received when they entered a concentration camp.
And at school, in Jewish Assembly, we used to read the terribly sad diary of teenager Anne Frank, living her pitiful life hiding in Amsterdam during the Holocaust. She always lived in hope that one day the war would be over and she could be free again. It never happened. Her family betrayed, she died in Auschwitz.
But for the twists and turns of fate it could so easily have been my family too. In fact, but for the backbone showed by the people of this country in the Second World War, the fate of the entire world could have been entirely different.
My Holocaust education has shaped me. What I learned, determined me thereafter to stand up for what I believe, never stay silent and never ignore what I believe to be wrong even though it is often easier to look the other way and not get involved. Last March I went to view the beautiful golden portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer by Gustav Klimt at the Neue Gallery, New York. It was lost to her husband during the Holocaust, he had to flee Vienna and died penniless but the family never gave up and ultimately had the portrait returned to them by the Austrian government. For me, this painting is not only visually stunning but represents a triumph of the spirit and a family who never gave up – who were determined to survive the enduring nightmare of the Holocaust.
There are some people who oppose Holocaust Memorial Day and who argue it is unnecessary. It is not. Revisionist historians would have the world airbrush it from history. They argue it never happened. That it is a fiction that was invented. Or grudgingly, that it was all exaggerated.
It was not.
Today is a day for all of us to remember the unspeakable horror of the evil, that if left unchecked, men can do to each other.
I have visited the memorial to the Holocaust, Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel many times. Each time it becomes harder for me to face the memorials to those who died in the concentration camps –selected to live or die on a whim – and to view the photos of people subjected to grotesque medical experiments. The photos of injections, operations, real shoes of murdered children piled high and children being forced by grim faced soldiers onto trains at gunpoint.
Many people also go to visit concentration camps such as Auschwitz, some of which today even look peaceful. Little is left of them. Mass graves are grown over with woodland and visitors have no real idea of what confronted captives some 70 years ago.
There is a brilliant post in today’s Times written by a young man called Oliver Hughes about his visit to Auschwitz with his father. What he writes reminds me of what my husband and son Ben thought when they visited it with my husband’s business partners, Arthur Bateson and Andrew Walker, and their sons. They all went because they believed they needed to see it; to show their boys the despicable sign above the entrance “Arbeit Macht Frei” and let them try and understand the sheer size and scale of the horror that resulted in the murder of millions – of which six million were Jewish. They also wanted to help them understand it happened within the lifetime of their grandparents and to ensure above all, through educating the younger generation, that it never happens again.
There is another very good reason for Holocaust Memorial Day. Soon the survivors with their tattooed arms will be no more. And only those who choose to never forget the truth and preserve it for future generations will be able to continue honouring the memory of an entire people almost, but not quite, wiped out.
No related posts.
Awards
Featured Posts
Popular Posts
-
Maintenance payments and a new partner: bad news for cohabitees? (Part 2)
-
Spouses who go forum shopping for divorce
-
Delaying the Decree Absolute: another look at Miller Smith v Miller Smith
-
Mesher Orders and Martin Orders: What You Need To Know
-
Maintenance payments and a new partner – what happens next? (Part 1)
Latest Posts
-
Introducing family law arbitration…
-
Seven days in Israel and a lesson in planning ahead: will life ever turn out as we expect?
-
Religious marriages: what constitutes a valid marriage in England? By guest blogger Laura Guillon
-
When is a marriage not a marriage? By guest blogger Laura Guillon
-
The best laid plans…and two birthdays to remember
IAML
5 Comments
DT in Cheshire on January 27, 2012 at 5:34 pm
You’re absolutely right. This day should never be forgotten.
Within the last 10 years, I have visited both Dachau and Auschwitz/Birkenau concentration camps.
When I told people where I was going and why, I received very mixed reactions. Some were in awe, some were quite horrified and others were surprised; partly because they wouldn’t go themselves and partly because I’m married to a German.
Thankfully, everybody is entitled to their own opinion, (something oppressive regimes seek to quash). However, I think if everybody who was able to take such a trip were to go, then this would undoubtedly promote more tolerance, understanding and acceptance of difference.
When one sees what happened to the Jewish populations of Europe, as well as to other hated minorities, (homosexuals and various ethnic groups, to name but a few), it is an incredibly sobering and humbling experience.
Sadly, we are still seeing hate crimes today. The tragic death of Stephen Lawrence as well as war crimes and genocide in recent years, being a case in point.
I am not saying a visit to Auschwitz is the answer to world peace, however, as somebody who has been, one can’t help thinking that more people should go and learn.
On returning to Kraków airport, the taxi driver told us how every single school child in Poland aged around 13/14 is taken on a school trip to Auschwitz/Birkenau to learn about what happened in their country, just a few years ago. I was pleased that such a positive and proactive approach to educating the young was being pursued by the Polish government.
Visiting such places leaves you with an initial impression of horror, not only because of the nature of the atrocities, but also the scale. The horror doesn’t diminish over time, and I guess that is how it should be.
Germany is not the only European country to have made holocaust denial illegal, and quite rightly so. One should never be reductive and this horrific period in history must never be minimised.
I don’t believe I’m capable of doing justice to this gargantuan topic with words alone. However, actions DO speak louder than words, and if every day, we can all be a little more tolerant and accepting of diversity, this will make a difference to our world and posterity.
We must never, ever forget.
Xx
Marilyn Stowe on January 27, 2012 at 8:50 pm
DT
Thank you for your comments.
I’m really enjoying reading them all but this one in particular is very interesting. What made you go to visit the camps? What motivated you?
Marilyn
DT in Cheshire on January 28, 2012 at 1:31 am
Hi Marilyn
Well, the Holocaust was described to me as a child when my parents tried to explain as to why our surname did not used to be what it is today, and that my father’s family were eastern European Jews and, like many, had fled the rise of fascism. My desire to increase my knowledge and understanding was insatiable and still is.
I grew up in North Leeds and knew and went to school with many Jewish people. We didn’t practice the Jewish faith at home, however, I heard many stories from Jewish friends similar to that which my parents had told me about our family.
I read books and watched films, but it was never enough. I had lots of questions, both moral and factual, which nobody could answer, and so I decided that as soon as I could, I was going to find out more.
I have always had a love of history, however, for me, this wasn’t like the Henry VIII history I’d always liked to read about. This was recent history which had affected my family, and would most certainly have affected me.
I myself would have fallen into at least three of the numerous categories of people the Nazis wanted to obliterate; but, by the grace of God, I was born into a tolerant and democratic society at a relatively peaceful time.
Over the last 10 years, in addition to the camps, I have visited: The Jewish Museum (Frankfurt), The Jewish Museum (New York), The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust (New York), The Jewish Museum (Prague), The Budapest Holocaust Memorial Centre, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Berlin) and Schindler’s Factory (Krakow).
I now have many of the answers to my factual questions, however, the moral questions remain largely unanswered and I suspect that’s how it shall remain.
My Granddad (born in the UK), was the last member of the family to be born with the Jewish name which was later changed. He died recently and I somehow felt that it was the right time to fulfil my life long ambition to visit Auschwitz, and I’m glad that I did.
If anybody has reservations about visiting Auschwitz or Dachau, as pernicious as they are, (and this fact is not disguised or diluted), please let me assure you that they are very sensitively and appropriately presented. There are no tacky souvenir gift shops or fast-food restaurants nearby, and in my opinion, every care and effort has been taken to be respectful. The organisers of both memorials treat everything from the exhibits to the tours with tremendous dignity.
We had a superb guide in Auschwitz-Birkenau who not only told us ‘the facts’ as we moved around the camps, but also tales from survivors she’d met which was incredible. She was so passionate about her job and was clearly moved on occasion.
You mentioned the tattooed survivors at the end of your posting and I think for me, the rationale behind the tattooing was as shocking as any of the visibly shocking exhibits.
Individuals were tattooed yes because they were a number and not a person, but also for a more practical reason. Appearances deteriorated so rapidly in the camps, that photographs were useless after a few weeks, because prisoners were unrecognisable and so an indelible mark was the only way to check if somebody had escaped.
I have been criticised for taking the decision to visit such places and talking about them; however, I make no apologies for this and I shall continue to talk about them.
The victims must never be forgotten and while ever we have ‘role-model’ premier league footballers using racist language unashamedly on the pitch, then we need to keep on talking and remembering.
DT
Marilyn Stowe on January 28, 2012 at 12:42 pm
DT
Many thanks. Your comments are incredibly moving.
I always look for good out of bad. We celebrated our sons Barmtizvah in Jerusalem ten years ago. Our guests included many non Jews who had never visited Israel.
We began with a coach tour of the City so that they understood more about what we were all doing there!
First we went to Yad Vashem. It is built on Har Hazikaron, the Mount of Remembrance and has stunning views over the hills of Jerusalem. As I mentioned in my post, I find it hard to visit. That particular day, with all our guests wearing T shirts which read “Ben’s Barmitzvah” on the front and their individual names on the back (some of them were nick names. Mine read “Super mum” which Im not exactly, and my husbands said “I’m Dad I’m paying” ) they didn’t know each other and they were all bonding. Everyone fell silent touring Yad Vashem. Some were crying. I went completely dizzy and faint. I was so overcome with the horror of what happened and the sheer privilege of being alive in Jerusalem to celebrate our sons Barmitzvah, that I had to get out. I went and sat on a wall outside and looked around at the beauty of Jerusalem, thinking of all those millions who had gone before and had lost their lives, simply for being the same as me. And here I was with my family and friends, celebrating a Barmtizvah in the land that Jewish people had lived and died for all those thousands of years, culminating in the Holocaust. And of course it continues. The night before his actual Barmitzvah service at a synagogue in Jerusalem, a group of teenagers were blown up in a Tel Aviv discotheque.
I am pretty sure your late grandfather would have celebrated the Passover Seder with the words ”Next Year in Jerusalem” At some point, that famous prayer is that the wanderings of the Jews would be over.
And in our lifetime that miracle, has happened.
I think it will give you some comfort and honour your grandfather to visit Yad Vashem but then not to stop there.
Leave the darkness for the light, and see the country which has sprung from the ashes of the Holocaust. It should give you some comfort and closure, religious or secular, Jewish or not, it doesn’t matter.
Our guests went on to tour the Supreme Court, visit the Israel Museum, take a trip round East Jerusalem to visit the Christian holy sites, went up Massada, swam in the Dead Sea and celebrated with us dancing Israeli dances, watching Ben at the Kottel (the Western Wall) and at the synagogue service. Afterwards they ate ‘cholent’ with the rest of the congregation and the Cantor, who I hadn’t met before, but he knew it was me. How? “The Hat Mrs Stowe, the Hat!”
I’m a great Israel tour arranger, I have lots of brilliant contacts. Tel Aviv, its beaches, night life, food, the various wine tours, history, architecture, art, music to suit every taste, the Dead Sea, Massada, Eilat, the Galilee, the Negev, Haifa with it’s Bahai Gardens, I could go on for ever.
Try it and I hope it helps complete the journey.
Best wishes,
Marilyn
.
DT in Cheshire on January 28, 2012 at 2:38 pm
Hi Marilyn
Thank you for sharing your story.
What a fantastic way to celebrate a Barmtizvah!
I have never heard of anyone marking the occasion outside of the UK. It sounds as though you made it a truly memorable occasion, not only for Ben but also for your lucky guests.
My journey of searching along with my geographical travels are far from over. I shall continue to seek to improve my knowledge and understanding of people. We are all flawed but as long as we can and indeed do learn from the mistakes of ourselves and others, then a positive can always come from a negative.
The Holocaust is always synonymous with terrible acts of evil and atrocity; however, some incredibly noble and altruistic deeds took place in the face of death and adversity, which always shocks me and yet always serves to remind and reassure me that human beings are capable of tremendous acts of good as well as evil.
I have never been to Isreal, however, I do plan to visit in the future and I shall take note of your recommendations. Thank you.
DT