杏MAP导航

By Lydia O鈥橩ane

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is marked annually to recall the millions of people who were killed or lived through the Holocaust.

The date commemorates the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz in south-west Poland, which was liberated by Russian troops on 27 January 1945.

The day also remembers the millions of people who were affected by terrible crimes committed during conflicts in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

Safeguarding historical record

The theme for this year鈥檚 76th International Holocaust Remembrance Day is 鈥淢emory, Dignity and Justice鈥�.

According to the United Nations, 鈥淗olocaust commemoration and education is a global imperative in the third decade of the 21st century. The writing of history and the act of remembering brings dignity and justice to those whom the perpetrators of the Holocaust intended to obliterate. Safeguarding the historical record, remembering the victims, challenging the distortion of history often expressed in contemporary antisemitism, are critical aspects of claiming justice after atrocity crimes.鈥�

Archbishop Kevin McDonald is the Archbishop Emeritus of Southwark in London, and Chair of the Committee for Catholic-Jewish relations for the Catholic Bishops鈥� Conference of England and Wales. 

Memory

Speaking to Vatican News about the importance of memory, the Archbishop said, 鈥渋t has a particular importance, both for Jews and for Christians and the way in which we remember is actually connected.鈥�

He went on to say, 鈥淭he important thing for the Jews about remembering the Exodus is you鈥檙e not just remembering a story of liberation; you鈥檙e remembering how you became a people because it was in being freed and being given the law and taken to their own land the Jews become a people. So, in a real sense it鈥檚 through memory that you appropriate and understand who you are as a people.鈥�

Stressing the importance of dialogue in combatting all forms of anti-Semitism, Archbishop McDonald referred to 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� views on connectedness.

鈥淚f you consider the synodal process that 杏MAP导航 Francis has initiated, he takes the view that wisdom will emerge from listening and through dialogue and conversation鈥� We need to explore our connection, and in dialogue, very importantly, you actually come to know what people think rather than operating on the basis of what you imagine they might think.鈥�

鈥淒ialogue creates connection; it creates mutual understanding,鈥� he said.

Education

Speaking about the role of education in helping people learn the lessons of the past, the Archbishop noted that education is important because 鈥渙ften we think we know things when we don鈥檛.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting that some of the dialogues that I鈥檝e been involved in, I realized not only do some people live with caricatures or half truths about what Catholics believe; often Catholics live with caricatures and half truths about other people. The thing about education is, it鈥檚 as much about unlearning as about learning.鈥� It鈥檚 about unlearning false assumptions and uninformed views and being open and receptive to other people鈥檚 understanding of issues," he said.

The Archbishop underlined that good education 鈥渋s fundamental for overcoming stereotypes, false assumptions and therefore, developing a real degree of understanding.鈥�

Indifference

In a speech to participants attending the Rome International Conference on the Responsibility of States, Institutions and Individuals in the Fight against Anti-Semitism in the OSCE Area, in January 2018, 杏MAP导航 Francis noted that 鈥渢he enemy against which we fight is not only hatred in all of its forms, but even more fundamentally, indifference; for it is indifference that paralyzes and impedes us from doing what is right even when we know that it is right.鈥�

鈥淚 do not grow tired of repeating鈥�, the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渢hat indifference is a virus that is dangerously contagious in our time, a time when we are ever more connected with others, but are increasingly less attentive to others.鈥�

Addressing the issue of indifference, Archbishop McDonald pointed out, 鈥淚ndifference is a failure to acknowledge that other people matter, that other situations matter and they matter to us鈥� Indifference really is a form of negativity.鈥�