27 January 2025
A statement from the Bishop of Chelmsford on Holocaust Memorial Day 2025.
This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. I want to express my support and solidarity with Jewish people in the Diocese of Chelmsford and across the world as they remember and reflect on this important anniversary and the events of the Holocaust. The anniversary also coincides with a period of rising antisemitism following the 7 October attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza. It is a period when we have seen the stirring of racial and religious division and hatred by those who seek to exploit this situation and others.
The theme of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day is ‘For a better future’. With prejudice and targeted persecution on the rise, a better future may seem distant, even unattainable. Now more than ever, we must not lose hope.
The Holocaust Memorial Trust ask us to remember and learn from the events of the Holocaust and more recent genocides. They also encourage us to take action for a better future. In recent weeks and months, I have witnessed people taking such action. Earlier this month I visited local communities in Israel and Palestine where people of different faiths are working together for a better future. It is something I have also seen amongst people and faith leaders in the diverse communities of Essex and East London.
In a media landscape where conflict and violence dominate the headlines, stories of people working together to overcome hate and division are usually missed and overlooked. When the news we read and watch is so often bleak and devoid of hope, these people and their stories can inspire us to remember and learn lessons from the past and take action for a better future.
