Main content
27/01/2017
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Ed Kessler, from the Woolf Institute in Cambridge.
Last on
Fri 27 Jan 2017
05:43
´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4
Holocaust Memorial Day
Good morning! Today marks Holocaust Memorial Day, which commemorates the 6 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews who were murdered between 1933-1945 simply because of who they were.  Much has been written about the Holocaust in recent years and as the generation of survivors dies, we encounter their urgent desire to leave behind a testimony of their life experiences, which is matched by the desire of the younger generation to listen to their story.  Many of us have watched films such as Schindler’s List and Life is Beautiful and are fascinated by the Holocaust.  Why? The theme of this year’s commemoration, ‘How can life go on?’, can help answer this question. Today’s commemoration encourages us to reflect on the aftermath of the Holocaust and of subsequent genocides; to think about what happens after genocide and of our own responsibilities in the wake of such a crime.   Elie Wiesel, author and Holocaust survivor, once wrote:  'For the survivor death is not the problem. Death was an everyday occurrence. We learned to live with Death. The problem is to adjust to life, to living. You must teach us about living.' So is it too bold to claim that successfully living together hangs upon fostering religious understanding and dialogue?  As the Catholic theologian, Hans Kung, said: There will be no peace between the nations without peace between the religionsThere will be no peace between the religions without understanding between the religionsThere will be no understanding between the religions without dialogue between the religions Amen
Broadcast
- Fri 27 Jan 2017 05:43´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4