University marks Holocaust Memorial Day

The University hosted the Warwick University Holocaust Commemoration event for Holocaust Memorial Day at the Students’ Union at 4pm today.

The event aimed to invite the University community to join together to show commitment in celebrating diversity and respecting one another.

Holocaust Memorial Day, marked today, January 27, is a commemoration day organised by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

The day provides awareness for the Nazi persecutions and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur. It also aims to challenge discrimination and prejudice in the UK and elsewhere today.

First-year Psychology undergraduate Shareen Kaur commented on the event: “Holocaust Memorial Day is very relevant in our present community and touches upon issues that are closer to home than you would think.

“It not only aims to commemorate Holocaust victims, but also aims to promote diversity and respect for one another in a multi-cultural and multi-racial community.”

In preparation for Holocaust Memorial Day, last week, the University hosted a special screening of ‘Life is Beautiful’ in the Warwick Student Cinema as part of Holocaust Remembrance Week. The SU Atrium also featured a contemporary photography exhibition on ‘Absence and Loss’ by Marion Davies.

Michael Haddad, a first year English Literature undergraduate, said: “As a landmark event in European, and World History, it is important to remember the Holocaust and study it so that such an atrocity can never happen again.”

A Germany student explained the importance of the day to the _Boar_ though wished to remain anonymous: “Though the Holocaust is an uncomfortable part of Germany’s history, it is an important part of history that needs to be remembered.”

Various commemoration events also took place outside the University. On Friday 25 January saw a commemoration event in the Lower Precinct in Coventry as part of the ‘Communities Together: Build a Bridge’ campaign. This event featured a welcome reception, music and discussion, followed by a talk by Mindu Hornick at the Central Library at 2pm.

This is the 12th year that Coventry has commemorated those killed during the Holocaust.