One of the privileges of being leader of the council lies in being invited to attend events held to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and to meet some of the survivors of those terrible events. To hear at first hand from those who experienced the very darkest days of history and have lived to tell the tale is an incredibly moving experience.
This year I attended two such events, one held at the German School in Petersham and the other at the synagogue in Richmond. I had the honour of being introduced to three survivors; Eva Clarke BEM, Ivor Perl BEM and Miriam Freedman. The latter two spoke of their lived experience, whereas Ms Clarke, born in Mathausen Concentration Camp just days before it was liberated, spoke of her mother’s story and that of her family.
This year’s theme for Holocaust Memorial Day is that of ‘Bridging Generations’, a timely reminder that the evils of nearly a century ago are with us still, and today the twin horrors of authoritarianism and antisemitism are very much in the ascendent.
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It doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to look across the Atlantic and draw parallels between the Germany of the 1930s and 1940s and modern day America. It is genuinely alarming how, in just 12 months, ICE agents have begun snatching people off the streets, terrorising people in their homes and workplaces and are gunning people down in the streets, all with the enthusiastic support of those in power.
And closer to home we hear reports that antisemitism is on the rise in the UK. The fear in Jewish communities after the horrific attack in Manchester was compounded by the senseless murders at Bondi Beach. And Richmond is not immune, as Richmond Synagogue has been targeted by having a swastika daubed on its wall.
As for authoritarianism closer to home, somewhat chillingly, Reform UK councillors are posting social media slogans such as ‘I stand with ICE’ and even Kemi Badenoch is promising an ICE-style agency should the Conservatives form the next government.
There is a hope was that the testimony of survivors will be seen as a warning from the past, a warning tempered with the sense of reassurance, and perhaps complacency, that the horrors of the 1930s and 40s would not, indeed could not, happen again. It is an uncomfortable truth that in the scenes being played out across the world, whether in Heaton Park, Bondi Beach or across the United States, and, in particular, in Minneapolis, history is threatening to repeat itself.
We owe it those who have lived through such horrors and to those fearing for the future to ensure that we do everything within our power to ensure the warnings from history are heeded before it is too late.
- Cllr Gareth Roberts is leader of Richmond Council and London Assembly Member for South West London
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