Holocaust Memorial Day 2012

Heidi Alexander Excerpts

Thursday 19th January 2012 Westminster Hall

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell) on securing it. He spoke powerfully and intelligently, and I commend him on how he opened the debate. Before I progress to my remarks, I will comment on the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin). It was probably the most moving speech that I have heard in this place since I was elected. I have always had enormous respect for him, but that respect has grown today.

I do not represent a constituency with a large Jewish community, but I have always had a significant interest in the holocaust. I hesitate to use those words because the phrase, “an interest in the holocaust” might sound strange to some people. I am not perversely intrigued by what happened, but I am interested in the questions that the holocaust raises for us as a society and as individuals. How was it allowed to happen? What leads an individual to think that it is okay to torture and kill another human being on the basis of their beliefs, religion or culture? How do we prevent such violence and the huge atrocities that occurred in the holocaust from ever happening again? What would I have done in such circumstances? What would I have done if I had been a young person growing up in Poland during the second world war, knowing about or imagining some of the things that were going on in a place not far from me?

I have had that interest, and last year it led me to accept an invitation from the Holocaust Educational Trust to visit Auschwitz, as part of its Lessons from Auschwitz programme. I will reflect on some of the things that I learnt from that visit; but equally, I shall pay tribute to a man who has been the rabbi at the Catford and Bromley synagogue for the past 11 years, Dr Zev Amit, who sadly is retiring. In his work in Catford, he has done a huge amount to promote education among young people, as the HET does. Therefore, although I do not represent a constituency with a large Jewish community, those are my reasons for attending the debate today.

Last April, the hon. Member for Croydon Central and I went to Auschwitz with young people from schools in my constituency and visited two of the three concentration camps there. It is hard to know which issues to reflect on in a short speech. However, one thing that struck me when I was there was that we can read about it and watch films, but nothing can really prepare us for the enormity of the horror that took place—its scale and the human lives behind the statistics. A young woman, who is a constituent of mine, called Yasemin Mustafa from Sedgehill school was on the trip, and afterwards, she led the most amazing assembly at the school in front of about 500 or 600 pupils, where she spoke about her experience. Her feelings were similar to those that I described. She said:

“Nothing could have possibly prepared me for the distressing horror I was about to see. No matter how many books or films I watched I felt absolutely powerless as I felt the streams of tears run down my face. I couldn’t quite comprehend how it was possible for another human being to inflict such torture, pain and distress upon another.”

I cried when I visited Auschwitz as well. It was not when I saw the thousands upon thousands of bags and suitcases that those who were led to the concentration camps had taken with them. It was not when I saw the human hair that was cut off women, men and children when they entered the camps or when I stood in a bathroom and saw the pictures painted on the wall by people trying to make their disgusting quarters a little more human. It was when we stood outside the Nazi officer’s house about 10 metres from the gas chambers and the barracks that people lived in, and I asked myself, “Why didn’t someone stop him?” He was living in a house probably 3 or 5 km from people in Polish villages, and I asked myself, “What would I have done?” I cried at that point—partly because of the horror of what had happened, but also because it made me reflect on my huge responsibilities as an MP.

Two weeks before that visit, as a relatively new MP, I was asked to decide whether it was appropriate for the United Kingdom to take military action against Libya to try to prevent loss of life in Benghazi. I asked myself a very difficult question then about when one act of violence—dropping bombs on another country is an act of violence—is appropriate to prevent other acts of violence. In his opening remarks, the hon. Member for Croydon Central also spoke about those questions, which we, as elected representatives, ask ourselves.

--- Later in debate ---

[Heidi Alexander]

When the sitting was interrupted, I was talking about my visit to Auschwitz, which, as hon. Members will have seen, left a deep and lasting impression on me. I applaud the excellent work done by the Holocaust Educational Trust and believe strongly that it is only by engaging with and educating the next generation that we can ever have any hope of preventing genocide from happening again.

It was inspiring for me to see the response of the young people from Lewisham who accompanied us on the trip. They dealt with a difficult situation in a mature and empathetic manner. They asked themselves the difficult questions that we asked ourselves, and the way that those young people responded to the visit gives us great hope. Just like the hon. Member for Croydon Central, I would recommend all hon. Members who have not been on the visit to Auschwitz to go on it. It makes people ask themselves a huge number of questions. Once someone has cried in front of a group of people, they are very honest with people. I had the most honest conversations with a constituent that I have ever had, following my visit there—with Yasemin, the young lady I spoke to earlier, on the bus going back to Krakow airport. I also had a very honest conversation, as I remember it, with the hon. Gentleman about our experiences as new Members of Parliament.

I want briefly to pay tribute to the work of Dr Zev Amit, who for the past 11 years has been the rabbi of the Catford and Bromley synagogue, based in my constituency. I first met Dr Amit when I attended a multi-faith service a number of years ago, to mark Holocaust memorial day. Since the memorial day was established, following the representations of the former Member of Parliament for Hendon, Andrew Dismore, we in Lewisham have always had a series of events to mark it. They have been shaped enormously by the approach of Dr Amit, who is a very inclusive man who has always believed in the importance of educating young people. At the multi-faith service, we had a small piece of drama from young people from the Roman Catholic Bonus Pastor school.

When Dr Amit opens the service, he speaks very genuinely and honestly about the challenges that face society today. Yes, he talks about the holocaust, but he also talks about the genocides in Rwanda, Darfur and Srebrenica. That inclusive approach has been of huge benefit in Lewisham, and we therefore have a significant number of events to mark Holocaust memorial day. It is a personal sadness to me that Dr Amit has retired from the synagogue. He will be missed in Lewisham, but young people there will grow up more enlightened as a result of the work he has done.

If the debate serves to do anything, it should be to remind us that we must always confront and challenge racism, prejudice and discrimination whenever we see them in our society. I shall read the statement of commitment of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. The final point says:

“We condemn the evils of prejudice, discrimination and racism. We value a free, tolerant, and democratic society”.

No words can be more important to hon. Members than those. I commend to the House the work of the Holocaust Educational Trust and people such as Rev. Zev Amit, and I look forward to the other contributions today.