Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, a time to mark the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and an opportunity to remember all those who died in the Holocaust and other genocides around the world.
Disabled people were amongst those who were first targeted by the Nazi regime, with hundreds of thousands being subject to forced sterilisation. An estimated quarter of a million disabled people were killed in the T4 camps.
Today provides an opportunity to remember those people.
Through this year’s theme – ‘Fragility of Freedom’, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is encouraging everyone to consider how freedom is fragile to abuse and urges us all to pledge not to take our freedoms for granted, and consider what we can do to strengthen freedoms around the world.
Find out more about this year’s theme.
The theme is particularly poignant for us this year. We know that many people who have experienced disability hate crime often feel as though their freedom has been eroded – from social isolation and not being able to live their lives with the freedom to be themselves.
The HMD Trust invites members of the public to light a candle in their windows at 8pm today, January 27, to:
- remember those who were murdered for who they were
- stand against prejudice and hatred today
A recording of this year’s annual Wales National Ceremony to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day is also available online on Cardiff Council’s YouTube channel.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Holocaust, we have collated a list of links and resources below to ensure that disabled people are involved in the remembrance and the significance of this day.
The terrible acts of persecution that were driven by discrimination are sadly not reserved to the pages of history. So let’s remember the 250,000+ disabled people that were killed, and stand together against division, prejudice and hate today.
Links and resources
- The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust explains more about how and why the Nazi regime targeted disabled people
- BBC Ouch answers frequently asked questions about the Holocaust and disabled people
- This YouTube video provides more information on the Nazi’s secret ‘T4 program’ that killed thousands of disabled people
- The HMD Trust also has a selection of easy to read life stories, including Anne Frank’s story
- Anna Lehnkering was one of the disabled people who was killed under the Nazi regime, read her story.
- BBC Newsround and the Holocaust Educational Trust published an informative guide to the Holocaust for younger audiences. It details a timeline of events, explains difficult words, and much more.
- The Holocaust Explained is a website designed for schools, brimming with information about the Holocaust in a variety of content formats
If you are aware of any accessible resources about the Holocaust, please do send them our way. We’ll continue to update this page with useful links and resources.
We must never forget.
Hate crime
On Holocaust Memorial Day, it’s more important than ever to stand against prejudice and hate.
You can report hate incidents, including disability hate crimes, to Victim Support or the police.
Report Hate Wales, run by Victim Support, is here to support you. You can find out more on their website.
