27-01-2025
Islanders commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day in Jersey
Future generations need to "keep the truth alive" of what happened during World War Two, a guest speaker at Holocaust Memorial Day in Jersey has day honoured the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau - the largest Nazi concentration camp in Poland.A commemoration was held at the Occupation Tapestry Gallery in the Maritime Museum followed by the laying of wreaths at the Lighthouse Toby Simpson, director of the Wiener Holocaust Library, said it was important for people to learn about the island's history.
He said: "On the Channel Islands, like in other places that were occupied by the Nazis, there are fewer and fewer eyewitnesses who were able to tell their story directly."So, the responsibility to keep the truth alive is passing on to future generations, to our generation, and I think it's so crucial that we all remember where hatred can lead."So many people suffered and died, including here on the Channel Islands, and the scale of the Holocaust was so huge and its legacy so profound that it's crucial for us all to learn from it today."
The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied during the war. Jersey Heritage said hundreds of islanders were imprisoned in the island and Europe during the Occupation, and 21 of them died in German prisons and Simpson said the "legacy of history" and the impact was "still echoing today" in said: "It has been my privilege to meet many people whose parents and grandparents were themselves victims of the Nazis."In the context of a world where, unfortunately, people are still being persecuted simply for who they are and where war is ongoing, we need to remember the worst consequences of hatred and conflict."
