This Saturday is Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), held each year on 27 January which marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Every year, HMD is not only a day to remember the millions of Jews and ‘others’ murdered in the Holocaust, but also the acts of genocide which have happened elsewhere in the world in the years that followed. HMD is an invitation to pause and reflect alongside people of different faiths, views and backgrounds regarding how easily people are ‘othered’. We are invited to pay attention to the dark path that othering takes us down, whether it be about groups and neighbours in our local contexts, or about peoples and groups in distant parts of the world.
Perhaps this year more than most, HMD is particularly poignant in the shadow of the awful atrocities and slaughter committed by Hamas on 7 October in southern Israel at the end of the Jewish festival of Sukkot, then followed by the continuing action of the Israeli government in Palestinian Gaza resulting in the devastating loss of civilian life and an ever-growing humanitarian catastrophe. In it all we are deeply aware of the ongoing situation and suffering, including that of our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters, in the West Bank.
Amid political, religious and humanitarian protest and division, the killing and bloodshed must stop, and we cry out for peace. Yet how do we ensure that our cries, prayers and actions are about ‘us’ as well as ‘them’, even in our own local contexts?
HMD is not only about looking back but it is about having the courage to allow the past to affect the way we live our lives in the present. As Christians across the diocese, how do we play our part in shaping the future, standing against othering and daring to be peacemakers even in challenging situations, as we hold fast to the beautiful kingdom-of-God vision which will one day be brought to fulfilment?
Last Saturday evening, some of us participated in a peace vigil outside the Cathedral, beautifully crafted using the resources of the Together for Humanity coalition. It was dark and cold but the inner warmth seemed strong as we stood together as people of different faiths and philosophies, carrying our different views, feelings and thoughts. One single candle flickered in the glass holder as the cold wind sought to put out the flame. It did not succeed and for me it was something of a metaphor of fragile strength in our commitment to strive for peace even in our places of difference and conflict – to bear witness to the truth that the darkness will not overcome the light.
On Sunday, one of the Jewish women who had participated wrote these words, which for me offer a further image of how the darkness will never have the final word:
“I want to share with you my profound experience from last night, a telling tale of humanity as it should be. I was pulled up to the plinth by wonderful Christian people. I managed to stay upright on the plinth by holding onto the arm of a very kind Muslim. When the service was over we went into the Cathedral and I lit a candle, after which I saw my Muslim gentleman sitting so I joined him. We held hands and I asked him if he felt safe, to which he replied ‘Yes’. He asked me the same question and I too was able to reply ‘Yes’. Few words were spoken after that but we squeezed hands, smiled warmly and I left.”
In this week of prayer for Christian Unity, and in a world so full of division, I pray this image might not only speak to us of how we live love, peace and hope across our communities and land with people of different faiths, philosophies and stories, but also how we live it within the Church. Reaching out towards one another provides resilience in places of fragility, fans the flame into greater light, and enables us to enter more deeply into Christ’s self-giving love and what we are called to as his disciples.
This comes as ever with my thanks and prayers.
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