大象传媒

One day when he was five years old, two men came into Martin Stern鈥檚 classroom asking for him.聽聽His teacher told them he wasn鈥檛 there, but too young to understand that she was protecting him, Martin obediently raised his hand.聽聽Innocently, he had handed himself to the Nazis 鈥� his crime, that his father was Jewish.聽聽That was Amsterdam, 1942. Antoinette Mutabazi was only 11 when Hutu militia unleashed 100 days of genocidal brutality against the Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.聽聽Surviving on rain-water and sweet potatoes she scavenged, Antoinette literally hid in the bush for several weeks, one day clinging to her brother who鈥檇 been shot, as he died in her arms.聽

In 2017, Rahima Mahmut, a Uyghur Muslim woman brought up in Ghulja, China who now lives in the UK, phoned her older brother back home. 鈥渨e are fine鈥� he told her guardedly, 鈥減lease leave us in God鈥檚 hands, and we will leave you in God鈥檚 hands too.鈥澛燬he tells me she hasn鈥檛 heard from him since that day.聽Our lives are filled with good days, bad days, days to laugh or to cry, days to learn, and others to ask, why. My friends Martin, Antoinette and Rahima live with the daily torment of their past but also, with the security, love and safety of their present.聽

Today, 27th聽January, is Holocaust Memorial Day and the theme is One Day.聽聽聽We remember the 6 million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazis, the victims of other genocides and people, like Rahima鈥檚 family, still facing persecution, simply because of who they are. As a small act of remembrance, tonight at 8 oclock, I鈥檒l light a candle with my family, and put in our window 鈥� to brighten a world which can sometimes feel very dark.聽聽With friends, neighbours, and thousands of others around the country, we can celebrate the lives, cut short, of Martin鈥檚 father and of Antoinette鈥檚 brother, and demand news and action for Rahima鈥檚 missing brother. With my candle glowing and glittering, I鈥檒l reflect on a pandemic blighted world, often distrustful and divided 鈥� and consider what I can do, in a small way, to make things better. So that one day, some day, and very soon, we will truly light the darkness in a kinder, safer world.聽