Holocaust Memorial Day

Remembering more than 200 relatives who were murdered in WWII

There won’t be any music tracks in this post. I think maybe a minute’s silence would be more appropriate.

My family might not be as wide as yours when it comes to distant cousins, uncles, and aunts. My great-grandmother was gassed to death in Sobibor within a week of being picked up in Amsterdam, and 4 days after papers were signed saying she could return home. That's her, Ella, in the picture below. Remembering more than 200 relatives who were murdered in WWII.

I was interested to find out a little more about this day and what it means. Over the last few years, I have been spending a fortune with MyHeritage to find out about my ancestry and it is fascinating. I have found relatives going back 800 years, which is pretty cool.

I also discovered that around 200 more of my relatives were murdered in Auschwitz, Sobibor, Bergen Belsen, and other houses of horror. Today I will remember them.

The date was chosen because, on this day, 27 January 1945 Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by Russian soldiers.

I found that interesting, given what Russian soldiers are doing in Ukraine today. Granted, there are no concentration camps, but the descendants of people who liberated people, some of whom might have been my people, are now killing other innocent people.

The theme of Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 is “Ordinary People”.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust says: “Our theme this year, though, highlights the ordinary people who let genocide happen, the ordinary people who actively perpetrated genocide, and the ordinary people who were persecuted." Something to think about, as I think with pride of the many Kiwis who are finding ways to help people in Ukraine in many ways.

You might say "I didn't know you were Jewish."

I learned at the age of 9, that antisemitism existed in New Zealand when doing fundraising work 'bob-a-job' as a kid, cleaning in a local dairy in West Auckland. The son of the dairy owner was a kid I knew from school. He asked his Dad why I was mopping their floor. His Dad said, "Because I want to see that dirty Jew boy clean up my mess."

Anti-semitism is on the rise again in New Zealand. A General Manager in a large NZ organization not that long ago, spent about 15 minutes in the boardroom one day telling me about the 'Jewish Problem', how they ruled global finances and were dangerous. They were plotting to rule the world. He didn't know I was Jewish, nor did a colleague whose family sheltered Jews in the war, at great risk, who overheard the conversation. For some reason, he thought I would agree with him.

I wanted to call him out, but I didn't want to lose my job. Perhaps that makes me part of the problem too.

I wish I had called him out, even if it did cost me my job, in honor of my people who died. People look at me and think, you’re white, blue-eyed, blond hair, (well no hair now). You would have no idea what prejudice is. Well, maybe I do.

I am lucky in one way. I don’t look Jewish. I don’t stand out like other members of my family who have Maori and Polynesian heritage.

So here's to you, Ella. If you had been alive I probably wouldn't have remembered you, but I would have had photos of you holding me as a baby and my mother would have got to have you in her life.