Never Again

Never Again

๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐—”๐—š๐—”๐—œ๐—ก? ๐—œ๐—งโ€™๐—ฆ ๐—›๐—”๐—ฃ๐—ฃ๐—˜๐—ก๐—œ๐—ก๐—š ๐—”๐—š๐—”๐—œ๐—ก

๐—”๐—ณ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ช๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜†, ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜†, ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜, ๐—ด๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—น, ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€, โ€˜๐™‰๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™–๐™œ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃโ€™.

Those two words summed up the sincere, solemn feeling and resolve of a world shocked, numbed and reeling from the discovery that so many had been so callously rounded up and brutally murdered.

Not for anything they had done. But simply for who they were.

Mostly Jews, but also gypsies, homosexuals, the disabledโ€ฆand others, many others.

๐— ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€. ๐— ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐—ช๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜. ๐— ๐—ฒ๐—ป, ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป, ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป, ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€. ๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐——๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ.

Never again. That was the response. Never again. Never again.

The means to achieve this noble intention was set in motion immediately.

 

ย ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐—จ๐—ก๐—œ๐—ง๐—˜๐—— ๐—ก๐—”๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก๐—ฆ

The United Nations came into existence just 51 days after the World War came to an end โ€“ 24 October 1945.

Its goal? To maintain international peace and security and to promote respect for human rights, aided by the jurisdiction of the newly formed International Court of Justice.

One of the United Nationโ€™s first tasks was to create the โ€˜Universal Declaration of Human Rightsโ€™ โ€“ described as the โ€œinternational Magna Carta for all mankind.โ€ It came into existence on 10 December 1948.

The Declaration unequivocally proclaimed the inherent rights of all human beings โ€“ all of them, all of us; every human; you, me, everyone; universally, and without exception.

The Declaration has been translated into more languages than any other document and ratified by 130 countries.

 

ย ๐—ง๐—›๐—˜ ๐—˜๐—จ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—ฃ๐—˜๐—”๐—ก ๐—–๐—ข๐—ก๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง๐—œ๐—ข๐—ก ๐—ข๐—ก ๐—›๐—จ๐— ๐—”๐—ก ๐—ฅ๐—œ๐—š๐—›๐—ง๐—ฆ

Alongside this international declaration of principle, Britainโ€™s war time leader, Winston Churchill, passionately promoted the โ€˜European Charter of Human Rightsโ€™ โ€“ the worldโ€™s first international treaty to legally protect human rights on the continent of Europe.

In May 1948 Churchill said in the opening speech to the Congress of Europe in Holland:

โ€œ๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—บ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—›๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€.โ€

British lawyers drafted what was later to become the โ€˜European Convention on Human Rightsโ€™. The UK was the first country to sign up to it on 4 November 1950, and the Convention came into force on 3 September 1953.

Including Britain, 47 European countries agreed to the Convention, which provides civil and political rights for all citizens, enshrined in law and overseen by the European Court of Human Rights.

 

ย ๐—” ๐—จ๐—ก๐—œ๐—ง๐—˜๐—— ๐—˜๐—จ๐—ฅ๐—ข๐—ฃ๐—˜

Europe, in particular, had to change its ways. Thatโ€™s where the planetโ€™s two world wars originated.

Right here, in Europe.

๐—œ๐—ป ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ. ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—น๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€. ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป.

Churchill, in his new role as โ€˜peace mongerโ€™ proposed a union of the countries of Europe as the antidote to war on our continent. He said, in the same 1948 speech in which he had also promoted the new Charter of Human Rights:

โ€œ๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—บ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜†๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฒ, ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ.โ€

The European Coal and Steel Community โ€“ later to be become the European Economic Community and then later to be called the European Union โ€“ was established in 1951 with the express intent of avoiding wars in Europe again.

Trade was to be the means; peace was to be the ends.

 

ย ๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐—”๐—š๐—”๐—œ๐—ก. ๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐—”๐—š๐—”๐—œ๐—ก. ๐—ก๐—˜๐—ฉ๐—˜๐—ฅ ๐—”๐—š๐—”๐—œ๐—ก.

In direct response to the most horrific war and genocide the planet had ever known, the world rallied to find a way forward so that such wicked crimes against humanity could never happen again.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—น ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—›๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—›๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฅ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ต๐˜๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—จ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป.

All established in direct reply to the war, and all to achieve the same aim: peace.

This was the resolve of those who endured and survived the terrible atrocities of the fascist regimes that blighted the planet during the long years of war and madness.

Never again. Those were the words of our parents, our grandparents, our great grandparents. That was the intent of the planetโ€™s leaders following the eventual crushing of the worldโ€™s barbarous enemies. Never again.

๐™๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™š ๐™ฌ๐™ค๐™ง๐™™๐™จ. ๐˜ฝ๐™ช๐™ฉ ๐™ช๐™ฉ๐™ฉ๐™š๐™ง๐™ก๐™ฎ ๐™ข๐™š๐™–๐™ฃ๐™ž๐™ฃ๐™œ๐™ก๐™š๐™จ๐™จ ๐™ช๐™ฃ๐™ก๐™š๐™จ๐™จ ๐™š๐™ฃ๐™›๐™ค๐™ง๐™˜๐™š๐™™.

 

ย ๐—ฃ๐—ข๐—ฆ๐—ง-๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ ๐—š๐—˜๐—ก๐—ข๐—–๐—œ๐——๐—˜

Since the end of the Second World War, the words โ€˜never againโ€™ have been cast in stone and stamped on our memories. But the atrocities that the post-war generation so sincerely wanted to prevent happening again, have happened again. And again.

๐—–๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ฎ๐˜‡๐—ถ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ โ€˜๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒโ€™. ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ. ๐—œ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ.

And itโ€™s a name thatโ€™s in frequent use because itโ€™s a crime thatโ€™s frequently committed. Too many to list them all.

ย ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‡๐—ถ๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—•๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜‡๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿณ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿด

ย ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ณ-๐—ฎ-๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿฒ๐Ÿณ

ย ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—น๐˜† ๐Ÿฏ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜๐—น๐˜† ๐—›๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜‚ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿณ๐Ÿญ

ย ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ,๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿด๐Ÿญ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿด๐Ÿฏ

ย ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐Ÿฎ.๐Ÿฎ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—–๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿณ๐Ÿต

ย ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—น๐—น๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ป-๐—”๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ปโ€™๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ป-๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—น ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฑ

ย ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฅ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿต๐Ÿฐ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐Ÿด๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ,๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ง๐˜‚๐˜๐˜€๐—ถ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—›๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐˜€.

ย ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—œ๐˜€๐—น๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ, ๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ธ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ป ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐——๐—ฎ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ต, ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐˜๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฌ๐—ฎ๐˜‡๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐˜€, ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐— ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—น๐—ถ๐—บ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—˜๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜โ€ฆ

ย ๐—”๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€โ€ฆ

 

ย ๐—ง๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—•๐—Ÿ๐—œ๐—ก๐—ž๐—”

The photo accompanying this article shows the memorial stone at the site of the Nazi extermination camp based in Treblinka, Poland โ€“ one of over 40,000 death camps and incarceration centres purposely built to mass-murder or enslave millions of people during Hitlerโ€™s regime.

I drove to Treblinka in 1991. It was one of the most desolate, moving experiences of my life. It was dusk and I was there all alone.

I wanted to write โ€˜not another soulโ€™.

But all around me I could feel hanging in the air and deep in the ground the souls of the estimated 900,000 innocent people, who had been methodically and efficiently slaughtered in the campโ€™s six gas chambers.

There was a sinister silence all around. This was a most evil, awful place, and always will be.

The Nazis, in an attempt to avoid responsibility for their crimes, hastily destroyed much of the camp as they retreated from the advance of the โ€˜liberatingโ€™ Russian Red Army.

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ, ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ธ, ๐—ฐ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฎ ๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ฒ, ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ, ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต๐—ต๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ธ, ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐˜€.

I prayed for them all before driving away. All the souls, but especially my grandparents, who it had been understood from patchy family history, were murdered there.

As darkness began to fall, I got completely lost trying to navigate the road leading from the camp, in the middle of the never-ending dense woods, through which light could barely penetrate, and it seemed didnโ€™t want to either.

There were no other cars on the road, no street lighting, no signs, no satnav. For a long while I thought Iโ€™d never find a way out of there, and if I did, I never, ever wanted to go back.

But at least I can live to say that.

๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ฎ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ, โ€˜๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ปโ€™.

 

ย ๐— ๐—ฌ ๐—š๐—ฅ๐—”๐—ก๐——๐—ฃ๐—”๐—ฅ๐—˜๐—ก๐—ง๐—ฆ

Because of my family history, hearing the name โ€˜Treblinkaโ€™ always created a deep spasm in the pit of my stomach.

In recent years, however, I have learnt from new research that I am still checking out, that my grandparents โ€“ Bertold and Helena Danzig โ€“ were not sent to the Treblinka extermination camp.

As a result of meticulous documentation left behind by the Nazi regime, and carefully pieced together by compassionate researchers, I now understand they were sent by train to the Sobibรณr camp, in Nazi-occupied Poland.

๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ผฬ๐—ฟ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ, ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ. ๐—œ๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ, ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—น๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ.

According to a recently published database of victims, Bertold was despatched to Sobibรณr on Transport Ax, no. 709 from Terezรญn in Czechoslovakia on 9 May 1942.

Helena was despatched on Transport Ax, no. 710 on the same day.

The train journey itself would have been unbearable.

Sobibรณr had only just been made fully operational as a place of mass extermination in the middle of May 1942.

So, if the train record is correct, my grandparents would have been among the first to perish there.

Soon after they arrived at the camp โ€“ separated even before the train journey began โ€“ my grandparents would have been told that they were in a transit camp.

๐—ค๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ฒ, ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐˜๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น, ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฒ.

Assembled with all the other condemned passengers on the railway siding, SS-Oberscharfรผhrer Hermann Michel made a speech to them.

He wore a white coat to give the impression he was a doctor.

Michel announced that they would be sent to work. But before this they would have to take baths and undergo disinfection, to prevent the spread of diseases.

We know this from the testimony given in the trials that followed the war.

The men and women were all separated. Everyone, including my grandparents, would be told to completely undress.

All the women had their hair unceremoniously shaven off with brutal and speedy efficiency.

Then, the train passengers of that day would be led through the โ€œTubeโ€ into chambers, where Bertold and Helena would have been gruesomely gassed.

๐—œ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ผ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น, ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿณ๐Ÿฌ,๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ,๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐—ผฬ๐—ฟ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ต ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ.

 

ย ๐—•๐—ข๐—ฆ๐—ก๐—œ๐—”

One year after my 1991 trip to Treblinka, civil war started in Bosnia, in the former Yugoslavia.

In just one town of Srebrenica during just one month, in July 1995, over 7,000 Muslim men and boys along with 25,000-30,000 refugees were ruthlessly killed.

This happened, despite the town being officially declared by the United Nations as a โ€œsafe havenโ€ and patrolled by 400 Dutch peacekeepers.

The Srebrenica massacre is considered to be one of the greatest failures of the United Nations. It has been ruled to be genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

 

ย ๐—š๐—˜๐—ก๐—ข๐—–๐—œ๐——๐—˜ ๐—ง๐—ข๐——๐—”๐—ฌ

And today? Yes, today itโ€™s happening again. Today.

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, the International Court of Justice has found prima facie evidence that the Myanmar regime committed systematic violence against its Rohingya Muslim minority, tens of thousands of whom have been killed in brutal army crackdowns.

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, there are genocide mass killings of Christians and Muslims in the Central African Republic.

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, China has locked up in โ€œcampsโ€ a million or more Uighur Muslims in whatโ€™s been described as the worst human rights crisis in the world, referred to as โ€˜genocidalโ€™ by the USA.

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, Russia has invaded Ukraine and is systematically killing Ukrainian citizens in what USA President, Joe Biden, has described as โ€œgenocideโ€.

And here?

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, the Conservative government wants to wash their hands of refugees arriving here and instead send them to Rwanda.

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, members of the Tory government want to scrap the Human Rights Act and leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

(Despite a commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights forming part of the Brexit trade agreement, itโ€™s been a long-term goal of successive Tory governments to water down our human rights legislation.)

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†, sections of our press describe stateless, desperate refugees as โ€œcockroachesโ€ and โ€œillegalsโ€.

๐—ง๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜„, with all good intentions, politicians will no doubt pontificate on todayโ€™s horrendous crimes against humanity and declare, โ€˜๐™‰๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™–๐™œ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃโ€™.

๐—ฌ๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป. ๐—ฌ๐—ฒ๐˜€, ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜‚๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ถ๐˜. ๐™‰๐™š๐™ซ๐™š๐™ง ๐™–๐™œ๐™–๐™ž๐™ฃ. ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ปโ€™๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜?

ย ๐—๐—ผ๐—ป ๐——๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜‡๐—ถ๐—ด is an independent campaigning journalist and filmmaker who specialises in writing about health, human rights, and Europe. He is also founder of the information campaign, Reasons2Rejoin

Facebook.com/JonDanzigWrites

 

 

 

About Care4Calais

Care4Calais was founded by a group of volunteers with the sole aim of supporting the people of the Calais refugee camps, providing fresh meals, warm clothing, heating and important legal and medical support.

We are not politicians – we are people like you who simply believe that every human has the right to be treated in a fair and dignified way.

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