Council holds minute's silence during monthly meeting for Holocaust Memorial Day

Derry City & Strabane District Council held a minute's silence during their monthly meeting in remembrance of those who died in the Holocaust.

January 27 is Holocaust Memorial Day where the six million people, murdered because they were Jewish by the Nazis during World War Two, are remembered.

As this month's meeting fell on that day, Cllr Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit) put forward a proposal that a minute's silence be taken.

That proposal was unanimously passed with Mayor Graham Warke adding that the Council Offices would be lit up in purple as a tribute to those murdered in the Holocaust.

Cllr Harkin said: “People Before Profit will be calling on Derry and Strabane Council to hold a minute's silence at 6pm during this week's full Council meeting to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and to recommit the Council to the 'Never Again!' campaign aimed at stopping the rise of fascist, anti-Semitic and authoritarian movements.

“The Holocaust was one of the darkest periods of human history. Six million Jews and millions of others were murdered by Nazi and fascist regimes.

“The genocide of the Jewish people and other minorities was the sickening outworking of capitalist economic crisis, big power conflict and the racist scapegoating by ruling elites.

“The message 'Never Again' is crucial to hear and act upon. Fascism was defeated and should have been binned forever.

“However, there are today reactionary and authoritarian political forces seeking to exploit frustrations with capitalist inequality, with demographic change and with the pandemic to target Jews, minorities and social justice campaigners.

“The far-right has been hard at work describing the pandemic as a hoax instigated by a Jewish elite to re-engineer society.

“Last year Derry City and Strabane Councillors unanimously supported a People Before Profit motion committing the Council to actively opposing anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination.

“We all need to be alert to attempts by the far-right to utilise anti-Semitic scapegoating and the targeting of minorities and we need to be prepared to take whatever action is necessary to stop it.”

Ald Derek Hussey (UUP) added his support saying that people needed to be more aware of situations that could see a repeat of the horrors of the Holocaust.

He said: “There was the thought that this could 'never happen again' but it has happened. It happened before Second World War genocide. I'm thinking of the likes of Armenia (during World War One).

“I commend the motion but also the whole ethos of what we're talking about. For goodness sake, lets be aware of situations that can develop into the sort of scenario that evolved in Germany and other parts of Europe at that time – and has developed in other countries since.”

Meanwhile, Cllr Gary Donnelly (Independent) criticised those in the anti-Covid vaccination movement for hijacking the yellow star symbol that Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe were forced to wear.

He said: “There are some people who have used the pandemic to change their (social media) profile pictures to the yellow star. They are comparing Covid restrictions with what happened during the Holocaust.

“I believe this is absolutely disgusting and it demeans and devalues the horrors of what happened.”

Cllr Donnelly also called for a gesture of a letter to be sent out to the family of Eden Heaslip.

The Cavan teenager committed suicide after being bullied because his father is a Protestant.

He added: “Persecution should not be happening on any scale and in that regard, I want to talk about what happened to a young man named Eden Heaslip in Cavan who took his own life because of being persecuted due to the (Protestant) religion of his father.

“I want to say that anyone who heard about what happened there can't be unaffected and I want to propose that this Council could send a letter to the Heaslip family expressing our condolences.”

Council voted unanimously to write a letter to the Heaslip family expressing their condolences for the loss of their son Eden.