Holocaust Memorial Day

Today, 27th January 2015, is Holocaust Memorial Day.  The Holocaust was the mass murder of six million Jewish people and millions of other people in the lead up to and during the Second World War.  The killings were organised by the German Nazi party, led by Adolf Hitler.  Most people were killed because they belonged to certain racial or religious groups that the Nazis wanted to wipe out. This type of killing is called genocide.

Holocaust Memorial Day is a time to remember, reflect and learn from the past and realise that genocide does not take place on its own, but is a steady process which can start if discrimination, racism and hatred are not checked and prevented.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has created a list of books especially written for young people that deal with the subject of the Holocaust.  They include the Morris Gleitzman series ‘Once’ ‘Now’, ‘Then’ and ‘After’; The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne and The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.  All of these books and more are available to borrow from the Discovery Library.  For the full book list go to http://hmd.org.uk/resources/books-young-people.

To find out more about the Holocaust, visit The Holocaust Memorial Day trust website.