South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes calls for us to continue to learn the lessons of the Holocaust

In his latest column, MP Sir John Hayes speaks to the need to carry on learning the lessons from the Holocaust...

January 27 marks a poignant date in our calendar, marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp – simultaneously recording a moment of liberation and chilling recognition of the extent of the Nazi’s twisted eugenical genocide.

The heart wrenching memory of this atrocity must never be forgotten.

Which is why, as in every previous year during my time as a Member of Parliament, I am proud to have worked this year with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to enable people across the United Kingdom to mark this grim anniversary.

Last month, when joining with the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Prime Minister and other colleagues in a Parliamentary moment of silence to remember those murdered in the Holocaust, my thoughts turned again to history.

That quiet moment commemorated the 80th anniversary of the first public acknowledgment by the British Government of the Nazis’ attempt to exterminate Europe’s Jewish population.

The sheer scale of the concentration camp genocide only became apparent - contrary to what some assume - in the dying days of the Second World War; though the horror was partly revealed in a harrowing report by Rudolph Vrbana, a Slovakian Jew who escaped Auschwitz in April 1944 to warn of what the Germans and their allies had exacted.

Members of Parliament responded to Winston Churchill’s Government’s shocking announcement on the December 17, 1942, with a spontaneous moment of silence, the first in the history of the chamber.

Now, with the Holocaust moving from memory to history, as we lose the last eye witnesses it becomes ever more important to take time to remember its six million victims, pay tribute to survivors and keep their stories alive.

The Parliamentary moment of silence, emulating the unprecedented tribute in the House in 1942, was given added poignancy as we were joined, in the gallery, by seven aged Holocaust survivors.

On the 27th of this month, at 4pm, people are asked to light the dimness as dusk falls as candles will be placed in the windows of homes, workplaces, schools, and universities in remembrance of those who were murdered just because of who and what they were.

Across the Kingdom, iconic buildings and landmarks will light up in purple during this powerful national moment of commemoration and solidarity.

Here in Spalding, South Holland District Council will light up in purple as part of this national initiative.

Last year, speaking in Parliament’s Holocaust Memorial Day debate, I stressed how important it is that schools enable their pupils to hear the testimony of Holocaust survivors.

So, this year, I encourage all our local schools to mark Holocaust Memorial Day by using the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust’s UK Online Commemoration, which includes testimonies from Holocaust survivor Dr Martin Stern and Amouna Adam, a survivor of the genocide in Darfur.

The Holocaust stained the fabric of civilisation.

Eighty eight years after the end of the Second World War, our age often feels fragile and vulnerable.

So, to stand up each day for the values that underpin social solidarity and harmony, we must know the worst to which mankind can sink.

Holocaust Memorial Day is a call to remember, and a pledge to protect.