Politicians and the Holocaust

The Jewish festival of Passover has taken place this week. Jews commemorate their liberation from slavery in Egypt, the end to the struggles of Moses in Exodus.
In the run-up to Passover, Politicians around the world have been saying some disgusting things in regards to Jews and the worst period of their persecuted history, the Holocaust. Here in the UK Ken Livingstone claimed Hitler supported Zionism (he didn’t) and the Labour party failed to sanction him effectively. White House press secretary Sean Spicer suggested Syrian leader Assad is worse than Hitler as he didn’t gas his own people (obviously wrong). Then in France far right lunatic Marine Le Pen claimed France didn’t help send Jews to death camps (they did and the French government openly admits that). Meanwhile the presence of Holocaust deniers online is growing.
You know the history but it’s important I state it in black and white. Around 11 million people were brutally murdered in the Holocaust. 6 million of these were Jews and the rest were other targeted groups like LGBT people, people with disabilities, people of colour, Roma gypsies, ethnic Slavs, Jehovah’s Witnesses and various other groups Hitler didn’t like. It is surely the darkest period in the the history of humanity.
When I was 17 I went to Auschwitz, the biggest of the Nazi death camps. It brought the horrific piece of history to life. It’s one thing being told what happened but another to get an idea of what it was like. I saw the living huts, which were not unlike a big pig sty. I saw the remains of the gas chambers, torn down by the Nazis as the allies approached. I saw a rooms full of crutches, suitcases, shoes and human hair, each item belonging to a real person.
Birkenau
Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp (from my visit in 2008)
Visiting Auschwitz at 17 defined my adult life. I try to be as far from a Nazi as I can be. I believe everyone is equal and deserves the same respect and treatment. I find it incomprehensible that anyone who knows about the Holocaust cannot feel the same way.
I see history repeating itself constantly. Is the UK and other countries accepting tiny numbers of refugees from Syria much different from accepting tiny numbers of Jewish refugees during the war? In the Chechnya region of Russia there are reports of camps where homosexuals are being sent, which sound horrifically like the early days of the Holocaust.
Whilst all this is going on, politicians keep trying to twist history. Sure, most people know what they are saying is nonsense. But some people will believe them. No mainstream politician has tried to deny the Holocaust has happened. Yet.
In an age where people believe the fake news that politicians spout it seems horribly plausible. What about in twenty years time when the number of holocaust survivors who can share their experiences is dramatically reduced? What about in fifty years time?
That’s why it’s so vital to correct and speak out against people like Marine Le Pen and Sean Spicer. It’s that line of thinking that could lead to a future of the holocaust being forgotten. I fear we are already failing to learn from the lessons of the past.
I ask you to use your voice to speak out against this. Don’t believe the nonsense spouting by the far right. Tell your friends it’s wrong, share the fact it’s wrong on social media and use your vote to tell these people this is not what we want to hear.

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