Holocaust Memorial Day 2023

White text on a brown background that reads: We are marking Holocaust Memorial Day. #HolocaustMemorialDay / 27 January. A lit candle is beside the text

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day, a time to mark the 78th 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 – ‘Ordinary People’, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is encouraging everyone to consider how ordinary people, such as ourselves, can perhaps play a bigger part than we might imagine in challenging prejudice and hate today.

Find out more about this year’s theme.

The HMD Trust invites members of the public to light a candle in their windows at 4pm 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. 

A crowd of wounded war veterans and other disabled people gathered beside an army tank. Tall walls enclose the space and a guard / watch tower is seen in the background

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. 

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.

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