Holocaust memorial event strives to help keep the memory alive

The recent terror attacks in France which provoked horror worldwide have reinforced the importance of commemorating the Holocaust.

Teesside University hosts events on the 27 January each year to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, a time for everyone to remember the millions of people murdered or had their lives changed beyond recognition during the Holocaust and Nazi persecution. It also commemorates genocide and ethnic cleansing which has subsequently happened in places such as Cambodia, Rwanda, and Darfur.

Prominent speakers, lectures, films and discussion will be among events at the University on Tuesday, 27 January, as part of the national commemorative Holocaust Memorial Day, which aims to remind us all to use the lessons of the past to inform our lives today.

Professor Matthew Feldman, an expert on extremism and the far-right, who is among the speakers at Teesside University, said: 'The national theme for this year’s events is ‘Keep the Memory Alive’ referring, above all, to the declining number of Holocaust survivors who are able to recount these horrific experiences first-hand.

'The date of Holocaust Memorial Day is especially relevant this year, marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. We will also be pausing to remember more recent victims of hate-filled, totalitarian ideologies like those shamelessly murdered in Paris at the beginning of this year.' Professor Feldman recently joined 37 students from the University’s School of Arts & Media who recently made the pilgrimage to Poland to witness the true atrocities of the Holocaust. The students will be talking about their experiences from the trip as part of Holocaust Memorial Day. The keynote speaker at Teesside’s Holocaust Memorial Day is Professor Aristotle Kallis, from Lancaster University, who will speak on the subject of mass murder and erasure of memory at the Nazi killing camps.

Teesside University BA (Hons) Television and Film Production graduate Robin Pepper will also present his film An Auschwitz Promise, with Iby Knill who wrote a book about her time in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Journalism lecturer Mark Handscomb will present a talk Forgiving Dr Mengele, with Eva Kor, and the event will be concluded by Professor Feldman with a lecture and discussion looking at the representation of the Holocaust in mainstream films.

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Holocaust Memorial Day programme and to book a place