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Human history is littered with awful crimes, some with many millions of victims.

For me, the Holocaust stands out because the Nazis wished to exterminate all Jews, regardless of their age or innocence or loyalty to the German state. It is because of the Holocaust that we have the word “genocide” and the post-war Genocide Convention.

I appeared in a 22-minute discussion on the Islam Channel about the Holocaust and Holocaust commemoration. You can watch it below.

About the programme

This was the “Living the Life” programme on the Islam Channel. The presenters were Bilal (I do not have his surname) and Hajra Khan. The two guests were:

• Shaul Usiskin (previously called Paul Usiskin who is a dual UK/Israeli citizen and a published author.) I have met him before and have one of his books on Kindle but have not read it yet.
• Myself, described as Co-Chair of the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester, as I consider that to be the most appropriate title for the occasion.

The key points I made

The entire session can of course be watched below, but for the convenience of readers I have briefly summarised my key points:

• The Holocaust has been a perpetual backdrop to my life. I still remember Adolf Eichmann being put on trial, and the German trial of Auschwitz concentration camp guards.
• My page "Reflections on Visiting Auschwitz" recounts my 2009 visit there.
• The Holocaust shows humanity at its worst, and also humanity at its best. Brave people chose to risk the lives of themselves and their families to shelter complete strangers. See my review of "The Other Schnindlers."
• We need empathy for others. My experience of growing up as the child of refugees from India during partition makes it easier for me to relate to the horrors of the Jewish experience, when after the Evian Conference all the major powers in practice closed their borders to Jewish refugees.
• Holocaust Memorial Day also commemorates the other internationally recognised genocides of Cambodia, Rwanda, Srebrenica, etc.
• I also had the opportunity to describe what the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester does.
• I celebrated the fact that the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust currently has three Muslims amongst its trustees.

The programme itself

The programme is embedded below and can be watched by clicking it. The full programme is one hour long and includes sessions other than the one described above.

To watch only the Holocaust session of 22 minutes, start watching at the time of 13:12.