On Monday 27 January 2020 we will commemorate International Holocaust Memorial Day here at DMU.
Holocaust Memorial Day is a day for everyone to remember the millions of Jews, and many other people, who were murdered in the Holocaust under Nazi persecution.
This is a time for us to commemorate the memory of those who lost their lives in the genocides which followed the Holocaust in countries such as Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.
DMU Student Cohesion Officer Mehjabeen Rahim said: “As a lead up to the United Nations (UN) Interfaith Harmony week, this day acts as a reminder of our commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in particular SDG 16, peace, justice and strong institutions.”
International Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 will mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, where a countless number of Jews, Roma, Sinti, disabled people, homosexuals, political, and war prisoners were murdered in unimaginably cruel ways.
Dr Gil Pasternak, Associate Professor at DMU’s History subject area and Project Leader of Digital Heritage in Cultural Conflicts (European Commission) said: “Despite the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world has seen many genocides since the Holocaust.
“International Holocaust Memorial Day is therefore an opportunity to ask ourselves: how do we personally enable prejudice and discrimination to exist, and how does what we say and do affect the fate of men, women, and children, both next to us and elsewhere around the world.”
There will be three events taking place on the day. Full details can be found below:
12-4pm: DSU will be hosting a display in the Campus Centre Atrium, to raise awareness and encourage the standing together of all communities regardless of faith, background or beliefs.
1pm: A commemoration event will take place in Gateway House 3.54, featuring remembrance talks and genocide-survivor testimony films. Alongside external guests, speakers from DMU will include Dr Gil Pasternak, Mehjabeen Rahim, and Dr Kim Sadique. In conclusion of the event we will honour the people who lost their lives during the Holocaust and in other genocides with an inter-faith prayer led by DMU Faith Advisors Rabbi Shmuli Pink, Father Johannes Arens, Harminder Jagdev, and Imam Mohammed Laher.
5.15-7.15pm: In the Library Lecture Theatre, lower ground floor (KL00.11), there will be a screening of After Auschwitz, a documentary that follows six extraordinary women, capturing what it means to move from tragedy and trauma towards life. Hosted by the DMU Unison learning team and open to staff and students, the presentation starts at 5.45pm. It will be introduced by Kim Sadique, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.
Kim is the Chair of the East Midlands Regional Board of Remembering Srebrenica UK, Chair of the Global Peace and Transitional Justice Research Group and a member of Leicestershire Police Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel. Refreshments are available and there will be a display of posters and booklets from the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, plus books and DVDs from the library collection.
This is a day of remembrance and we hope that you are able to hold hands with us to commemorate those who lost their lives.
The events on the day have been organised jointly by DMU OpenFaith, De Montfort Students’ Union, DMU Staff from the School of Humanities and Performing Arts, DMU Unison learning team and the Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust and Genoside Studies at the University of Leicester.
Posted on Thursday 23 January 2020