“Take action for a safer future” – our staff mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2022 | News from St Bartholomew's

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“Take action for a safer future” – our staff mark Holocaust Memorial Day 2022

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27 January each year.

Staff from across Barts Health are playing their part in this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day by hearing from survivors and sharing their own experience of living through genocide.

Held on 27 January each year, Holocaust Memorial Day is dedicated to remembering the six million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazi regime and its collaborators, and those killed in the genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur.

The theme for 2022 is One Day. It is hoped that, by learning more about the past, empathising with others and taking action, there may be one day in the future with no genocide.

In a video message to staff and supporters, Trust chair Jacqui Smith said: "Holocaust Memorial Day is a day for everybody. It's an opportunity for us to come together, to learn more about the past, but also to be inspired to take action to create a safer future."

To coincide with this year’s event, Professor Charles Knight, chief executive of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, spoke to Martin Stern, a Holocaust survivor and retired immunologist who worked at an NHS trust in Leicester, about his life and career.

Barts Heart Centre director Dr Simon Woldman also chatted with Etienne Byaruhanga, a nurse from Stoke-on-Trent and survivor of the Rwandan genocide, about his experience.

Last year, our staff lit candles in Barts the Less church, located within the grounds of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Dr Woldman gave a reading of the Holocaust Memorial Day prayer and nurse Ange Uwera, whose family were affected by the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, shared her story.

"We should celebrate the progress we’ve made as countries and as individuals" - Ange Uwera

The UK’s national Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony will be live streamed online from 7-8pm on Thursday 27 January.

Members of the public are then encouraged to light candles in their windows from 8pm to remember those who have been murdered and in a stand against hatred and prejudice in the world day.

Photos and videos will be shared on social media using the hashtag #LightTheDarkness.

At Barts Health, we serve one of the most diverse populations in the country. Through our WeBelong strategy, we are committed to eliminating discrimination, valuing diversity and promoting equality of opportunity.

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