On Holocaust Memorial Day, thousands of people across the UK come together to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.
Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) takes place on 27 January - the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. This year, the theme is Torn from home and will ask people to reflect on what home means to them. Marking HMD provides an opportunity for communities to learn, to reflect and to take action to create a safer future, free of discrimination.
Earlier this year, more than 11,000 activities were organised to mark HMD. Local authorities, who are uniquely connected to their communities, are a crucial part of this picture, with over 500 of these activities being run by councils.
At the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, we want to support councils to plan more activities, and empower their constituents to take action in their communities. But with growing pressures on staff and shrinking budgets, how can councils play their part in sharing the message of HMD?
Use your assets
HMD is about bringing communities together, so draw on the strengths of your local community when planning your activities. Every local authority has links to community groups in their area who do fantastic work - be it a faith group, village hall, charity, arts organisation or others. Use the links you have to run activities that resonate with your communities.
Consider planting a tree or flower bed in a local park, partnering with your local cinema to host film screenings or holding a panel discussion. For example, in Birmingham, the City Council partnered with Rainbow Voices, a Midlands-based LGBTQ choir, who delivered a moving performance at their civic ceremony. Read about it here.
Educate and commemorate
For HMD 2018 we saw hundreds of local authorities host civic ceremonies which brought their local community together. In 2016, for instance, Hastings Borough Council welcomed local residents to a poignant service that featured a dance performance, poetry reading and a speech from the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.
But if organising a big event is not an option, smaller acts of commemoration can be just as powerful. One idea is to focus on internal activities including members of staff. You could light candles, representing the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution, and the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Observing a minute’s silence or reading a poem in council meetings are simple, yet effective ways to honour the victims and survivors of these regimes.
Explore our resources
Every year, we provide free, tailored resources for local authorities to make organising an HMD activity as easy and accessible as possible. Our range of resources includes films, images, education resources, song sheets, recipes, podcasts, poems and more. Using our resources, councils could work with schools, display posters in libraries, use our images to create an exhibition in council buildings or share materials on their intranet.
For HMD 2018, West Lothian Council screened some of the short documentaries available on our website at their civic event, and across the UK, over 1,000 libraries put up posters and displayed our free resources to educate service users about the Holocaust and subsequent genocides.
We understand that local authorities are facing unprecedented budget pressures, so we are here to provide support, ideas and materials.
We hope that all councils will join us in marking HMD in 2019. Let us know how you formed part of the national picture of HMD by adding your activities to our interactive map.
Claudia Hyde is the local government officer at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. You can contact her on claudia.hyde@hmd.org.uk
